Something Not Comprehended
by DarkLeia
Summary: Pre-ESB. Han is confused about his relationship with Leia. On base, she acts one way, but when they are alone on missions? It's very different. He's hoping to find a way to bring the two ways together. AU and rated M. Not related to any of my other fics.
1. Chapter 1: It's Complicated

Ok, here is the mature-rated fic. It doesn't relate to any other specific fic of mine - or any of yours for that matter - just something to relieve the angst that I usually write. There's more chapters to come. Hope you like it!

Chapter 1: It's Complicated

Another mission. Another cover role to play. Another seedy motel on another backwater system.

The room had a bed barely big enough for two and a small storage cabinet. Beyond that, there was nothing except the relatively clean fresher. The floor was another matter and he wasn't about to sleep on it. It wasn't the first mission where they shared a bed.

She slept facing away from him and fully covered. He slept in only his undershorts, lying next to her and staring up at the ceiling in the dark. The warmth of her body next to him made him think. He thought of the way they were together on base fighting against each other and when they were in a blaster fight fighting _for_ each other, watching each other's back. In a circle that he had gone through several times already that night, again it made him think of her warm back facing him.

It was complicated with them.

More complicated than anyone around them suspected. In fact, it was so convoluted, that he wondered if they would ever find a way to untangle what it had become between them. Their relationship was as it had always been – contemptuous, tempestuous, and contentious. It wasn't an act. It was that way even on missions with nobody else around, except… on missions and only on missions, there was also something else.

He rolled to his side, facing her back, he slid his arm over her waist and pulled her body against him. His hand roamed eagerly and possessively down her thighs and back up her front to the top of her collar. He put his mouth to her ear.

"You know I don't like it when you wear clothes to bed," he whispered gruffly as he unfastened the front of her shirt.

"I thought you liked a challenge," she whispered back not turning to look at him.

"You're challenge enough."

"How do you know I even want you?" Her argument weakened by a voice laced with underlying lust.

His hands had roughly worked off her shirt and loose leggings. She didn't put up any sort of struggle, but she didn't help him either. She never did. He stroked the same path as before on smooth skin this time. He dropped his hands to briefly cup her breast and flick her taut tip before his fingers went directly down between her legs to feel her sumptuous wetness.

He smirked and growled into her hair as she moaned, obviously under his power already.

"Because I know you _always_ want me." He quickly worked off his undershorts, his body already rock hard with desire.

He grabbed her panties and dragged them down her legs as fast as he could, then rammed himself inside of her from behind. His one hand grasping her soft mound with one finger dominating her sweet spot. His other arm was wrapped under her back and grabbed her breast with her nipple being teased in between his thumb and forefinger. He buried his head into her hair and neck as he buried himself deeper into her with each thrust.

"Han-" she gasped at the visceral ecstasy of being taken like that.

"No! You don't get to call me that!" He growled into her ear even though her voice calling his name made his own desire accelerate.

"Captain-" she cried out breathlessly.

He could tell she was on the verge of orgasm.

"Grind your ass back into me like you mean it, Princess," he ordered.

She complied wantonly and almost immediately her body her body bucked and then went stiff with orgasm as her insides contracted around him uncontrollably. He followed her over the cliff, exploding into her with force and gripping her body to him as tightly as possible.

When their breathing slowed and awareness returned, he extricated himself from her and they rolled onto their backs sweaty and content in their rhythmic breathing.

He felt those damn pangs again. Painful memories warned him. He had tried in the past. Maybe it was different this time. He rolled to his side once again and bent his head to kiss her lips.

She turned her head away, "Don't."

"Why not?" he asked, his voice gentle and vulnerable.

"Just… don't." She began to sit up.

"Fuck you," He snarled, hurt from the rejection one too many times.

She sat with her legs over the side of the bed, refusing to face him.

"You already did."

He watched as her perfect shape disappeared into the fresher. He sighed and fell back onto the pillow wondering how they ever got to this point.

It was complicated with them.


	2. Chapter 2: How Did It Come to This?

I'm sure you know about the glitch in the reviews over the last week. If i wasn't able to contact you directly, THANK YOU for leaving me a review. I always appreciate them and love knowing you are here and reading. I know I'm pushing the limits of the characters here, but it's an AU. ;)

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 2: How Did It Come to This?

She dimmed the lights to half power and tapped the controls for the sonics. She stepped into the small sonic stall. Once inside, she noticed the controls for water and felt supremely grateful for them when they actually worked. She let the water stream over her head taking her tears with it until slowly her hands came up to cover her face as her head hung down.

 _How did it come to this?_

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As he gathered his undershorts off the floor, he heard the water running in the shower. Walking over to his travel bag sitting atop the cabinet to pull out a fresh pair, he swore he heard her crying. Walking closer to the door of the fresher, he clearly heard her sobs. He had never seen her cry. Never. His heart broke and his stomach wrenched. He wanted to go in there, hold her and kiss her tears away. He shook his head in frustration as he snapped the bag shut.

Why wouldn't she let him love her? Their attraction and passion were undeniable. It was as if it built up in between missions to an exploding crescendo of sex at times like these. There was so much more there between them, but she refused to allow it.

He never knew why. Maybe it was a case of too much loss in her life already and she feared more. Maybe it was a fear of divided loyalties to the Rebellion. Maybe she feared losing control of the tight grip she kept on her life. Maybe.

Or maybe it was as he initially believed when they first met: she didn't think a guy like him belonged with a princess like her.

Sure, he was good enough to 'fuck' her in the dark when away on missions alone. Good enough to use him to satisfy her deeply hidden desire for lustful, raw sex. Before and after? There was zero acknowledgment from her that the act or any contact at all ever happened.

In the beginning, there wasn't any sex of any sort. There was plenty of fighting and flirting well before there ever was fucking. At one point away on a mission, the flirting had overtaken the fighting. He remembered clearly his surprise at her increasingly playful responses to his leering teasing. In fact, the more subtle he made the overtures, the more overly flirtatious she became.

Falling for her attentions, his sense of romance took over and his heart opened up believing she finally felt the same. The last night of that mission was where it took the fateful turn from heartfelt emotions to pure unadulterated lust.

After a romantic dinner to celebrate a successful mission, they had found themselves back in their hotel room standing very close. He had moved to kiss her gently.

"Leia…" he had whispered as if in prayer, drawn in by her intense eyes.

She had refused his kiss instead had slid her hands down from his chest to release his blaster rig and rip open his trousers to grip his immediately hard cock. His surprise was overshadowed by her aggressiveness. He remembered her unfastening his shirt and kissing her way down his chest as she dropped to her knees and took him into her mouth. Although she was an obvious novice, he came hard and fast that time just like all the times since. Her punishing beauty and assertiveness had always been incredibly arousing to him.

Later that same night, he had been ready for round two. He tried several times to kiss her, but she distracted him. He remembered kissing every bit of her body and how he made her quiver with desire, but she refused his lips on hers.

He didn't know what it was about, but didn't let it bother him until the next morning when she rejected all of his advances and acted as if nothing happened between them. Things just eventually went back to their usual way of going about day-to-day leaving him confused and hurt.

He observed her more closely than ever then. Looking for answers she wouldn't give him. He found several plausible ones he was willing to believe to ease his hurt. Then came another mission alone.

Again, that very last night he found himself pounding deep inside of her while holding her up against a wall half-clothed because they couldn't wait long enough to take them all off. Then another round with her furiously riding him while she described to him in explicit detail what she wanted him to do to her.

The next day was a repeat of the refusal to acknowledge any intimacy had even occurred. After that, he didn't know what to do. He tried to leave, but found he couldn't bring himself to leave her. He wanted more and believed he just needed to break through her defenses. She had to feel the same as he did. There was no way they could share such an incredible force of passion for each other and have there be nothing else underneath. It was just not possible.

He pushed and teased and cajoled her. He argued and debated and they continued to have a difficult relationship. When they found themselves on missions where they were in a bedroom alone late at night, he started taking advantage of her secret sexuality with him. He decided if he were going to be used for her pleasure, he was going to do some using himself and take over the dominating position. Interestingly, the sex was hotter than ever before with Leia enjoying her submissive role as long as he kept his mouth away from hers.

They were coming up on three years of knowing each other and just over two years of their strange sexual relationship. He knew her now. Really knew her. At least, he thought he did. Yet, there was a big part of her that she kept hidden and nobody was allowed near it as far as he could tell.


	3. Chapter 3: The Shower Scene

Chapter 3: The Shower Scene

Her crying sobs had subsided and the water had been shut off. Han moved away from the door somewhat relieved. He had been standing there warring with himself whether he should go in and try to console her maybe even get through to her while she was willing to be open with her feelings, but he was also aware it could have ended up as sex in the shower just as easily.

He felt pathetic. Even knowing she was using him for sex, he couldn't walk away or stop wanting her emotionally or sexually. She was more addictive than any substance, but he had to try to change things. Hormones still coursing through him, an idea drifted through his consciousness: use her lust and his skills to force her to admit her feelings.

It's not as if he needed her to say she loved him, but there had to me more than whatever this was between them. It was dizzying in the powerful grip their mutual attraction had on him. It was raw and wanting. Sometimes, it was strangely exciting.

Turned out that the Princess had a playful side when it came to sex and just the idea of that had initially delighted Solo. It was the reason for the name games and a few others that showed up now and again. They never spoke about them, but they happened all the same. Every once in a while, something from one of those kinks would show up ever-so-innocently while they were on base and one of them slipped. That type of thing would stay with him for hours afterward unless he 'dealt' with it. Part of his confusion stemmed from the idea that maybe she wasn't slipping at all. Maybe she was walking around in between missions just as achingly charged up as he was and she 'slipped' as her way of relieving just a bit of that build up.

Later, her secret playful side would make him think twice. She was an expert at hiding her emotions and he suspected her games were just another way of doing that. So instead of them sharing a dirty little secret or two, she was finding new ways to keep him at arm's length emotionally while simultaneously being as physically connected to him as possible.

No, there had to be a way to do this differently. Leia had to be thinking along the same lines or she wouldn't have just been crying in the shower. He shook his head to clear it. Damn! Just the thought of possibly having her in the shower had him hard again already.

He took a steadying breath. _Dammit! Fix this already!_

He slapped the door controls and saw her just walking out of the shower stall.

"You're gonna need another shower, Princess," he said as he stalked towards her as if she were prey. "I'm not done _fucking_ you yet."

Silently, she stepped backwards into the stall as he invaded her space. In moments he had the hot water steaming around them as he pushed her up against the wall.

"You need to be properly punished," he declared wickedly deciding to play to her secret side. "I'm gonna show you just how low-down unworthy pirates like me punish haughty princesses like you."

While he could see the intrigue written all over her face, he also saw confusion cross her features.

"Captain," she began as he ground his erection into her belly. "I never meant to imply –"

"Stow it! I sentence you to twenty lashes…"

He saw her eyes widen slightly with fear. They never hit each other during their escapades beyond a gentle smack on the ass here and there. He bent towards her ear nibbling it lightly as he continued to growl his intentions. "… with my tongue and a proper tongue-fucking of your royalness to make sure you learn your lesson."

True to his word, his tongue lashed each nipple twenty times and another twenty as he slid down her still moist belly and another twenty on her clitoris before his rigid tongue shoved its way inside of her over and over until she convulsed as she gripped his hair in her fingers.

Han stood up giving her a few moments to recover as he took some cleanser from the dispenser and rubbed it between his hands.

"Don't even think I'm stopping there," he began stroking his slickened hands all over her sensual curves the pleasurable friction bringing her back to moaning arousal and making him even harder. "You're just lucky I'm in giving mood."

He lifted her hips up and pressed her into the wall bringing her eye-to-eye with him. "Well?"

"More," she said huskily running her hands through his hair and wrapping her legs around his back.

He could believe how much he wanted her at this moment. Her slick shining body beneath him was sliding around him so sensually he thought he would come at any second.

"I know you can do better than that," he insisted as he poised his cock at her opening and pushed in just the slightest amount before pulling back. The teasing move caused her eyes to roll back and her to grip his shoulders lightly with her nails. Solo held still and waited. He knew she knew this drill. They had played a similar game before, but he was intent on changing the outcome … if he could keep a sense of control.

She looked straight at him and ordered him with authority. "Fuck me, Captain."

Slowly, he slid all the way in causing an intense guttural groan from both of them. Then he slid almost all the way back out and opened his eyes to look at her.

"I'm only moving on your command, Princess. My only rule it is has to be more than one word. I told you, I'm in a giving mood." Han held her eyes and swore to himself to uphold his plan even though it might kill him.

"Fuck me, again."

Again he complied with one thrust. This time before he completed the circuit, she was ready.

"Don't stop."

"Manners, Princess! I'm working for you here," he ordered. How he was keeping his focus was beyond him considering the lightning bolts of pleasure coursing through his veins. This woman and the way he felt while inside of her never failed to bring him to some of the highest levels of arousal and excitement he had ever experienced.

"Please, don't stop."

"More, please, Captain."

"Fuck me more, please."

Hearing her struggling voice hover between ordering him and begging him to do things to her that he ached to do was driving him wild. He was no longer just moving on her command. Their sensual rhythm had become a driving one. He thrust deeply into her while staying in a bare semblance of control, pinning her slippery body to him so closely their faces were only centimeters apart. Their heavy breaths mingled between them as their eyes stayed as locked together as their bodies.

"Do you want me?" He ground out, his voice gravelly.

"Yes." Her deep alto was breathy.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"I want you." She gripped his shoulders harder than before.

"Tell me," he demanded again as he changed his thrust pattern slightly eliciting a whole new look of pleasure on her face. He couldn't let her go over the edge just yet; he wanted her to keep talking.

"Please, don't stop."

"Tell me how much you want me," his own voice struggling and changed the pattern once more.

Leia lost her breath momentarily at the change and ground her hips against him, pulling him to her even more tightly.

"I want you so much. You feel so good."

Han slowed the pace, his breath was ragged, but here was where his plan was either going to pay off or fail.

"Leia," He held her eyes as their lips almost touched as he spoke. "Say my name."

Sex was always more intense and personal when they did that which why they never did it for more than a few seconds at a time. This time they been this way almost from the start and had never left one another's eyes. Han saw the shot of pleasure her name on his lips brought to her.

She hesitated and he thrust up hard and deep in erotic encouragement.

Her eyes closed momentarily at the intensity. "- Han!"

It didn't have the same effect on him that his use of her name had on her, but there was a tingle. She was too hesitant, he decided.

"Again, Leia," he pleaded next to her lips thrusting powerfully again, feeling his climax building quickly. He freed a hand and stroked her breast feeling her aroused erect tip under his palm.

"Han, I want you." She squirmed pleasantly from his skilled teasing of her breast.

He intensified his touch and his thrust seeing how close she was to coming.

"Han… " She grabbed his head and brought her mouth to his, shoving her tongue deeply into his mouth as her climax exploded and shuddered around him, her insides gripping him convulsively.

Her tongue in his mouth caused him to climax so suddenly, he nearly lost his balance. He had never come so hard before and literally screamed into her mouth. As the aftershocks finally left his body, his mouth remained glued to hers. He stayed connected to her as he kissed her back. As spent as he was, he didn't want to leave her mouth now that he possessed it. He wondered very hazily if he could carry her back to bed in this position and just kiss her for the rest of the night.

He relished the way she was holding tightly to him and not pulling back. She swarmed her arms around his shoulders pulling herself tightly to him. She seemed as unwillingly as he to break away.

Fatigued and finally depleted, his legs began to shake and feel exhausted to the point where he was afraid of dropping her. He slowly pulled his lower half from inside of her without ever leaving her lips. Gently, he slid her body down to the floor until her feet were touching. Then he slid his hands back up her sides and over her curves up to hold her face. Ever so slowly, he broke his lips from hers. Gently touching her lips a few more times and gazing happily down at her eyes, he brought his lips up to her forehead and softly kissed her there as he pulled her close to him.

Leia let him hold her as they stood there dripping wet. Then she suddenly seemed to refocus.

"I think I'm clean now." She pulled away from him.

Han let her go, but smiled down at her. He wasn't about to let her ignore what just happened between them.

"That was one helluva kiss."

"You seemed like you needed a good kiss," Leia answered with an unexpected wryness and a shrug. She half-smiled and moved around him to grab a towel to stem the dripping of her long hair. " I was motivated in a way I couldn't resist."

He handed her a second towel for her body and grabbed the last one for himself.

"I could spend all night motivating you, Sweetheart, but you have completely worn me out," he smiled warmly at her. "You coming to bed?"

"Your thoroughness has worn me out, too, Captain. I just need dry my hair."

"Don't take too long," he pleaded. He wanted to go to sleep holding her in his arms. It wasn't something he ever actually desired to do with woman before. He had felt so connected to her a few minutes ago. He already missed that connection and wanted some semblance of it back.

"I won't," she reassured him already engaging the drying cycle of the sonics.

He remade the bed and made a conscious decision stay fully naked and not to pull on a fresh pair of shorts. He wanted to be as close to her as possible and feel her skin next to his.

Normally on missions, he like to be in state of readiness in case something came up. He chuckled to himself about the sexual application of that versus the normal mission reasons. With is blaster safely tucked under the pillow, he got into bed and waited on her. He hoped she would come to the same conclusion as he about sleeping naked. Or at the very least, go with his initial demands that he didn't like her sleeping in clothes.

A few long tired minutes later, she emerged from the fresher with the towel wrapped around her body. He watched her as she walked over to the cabinet where her travel pack was and he sighed hoping she would take the hint.

"Don't worry, Hotshot," she reassured him as she took off the towel and hung it on a hook next to the cabinet. She turned to face him in her naked glory. "I know you like me to sleep naked."

"I'm glad to see you were paying attention." Han smiled contentedly as he watched her cross the room and climb into bed with him. He turned off the lights and rolled half on top of her. He dropped soft, slow feathery light little kisses onto her lips taking great pleasure in each one, but vowing to himself not to start something he couldn't finish. Plenty of time to kiss her after some sleep.

"You're so beautiful," his voice rumbled sexily.

"You're not bad yourself, Captain Gorgeous," she said dreamily. "But I'm really need to get some sleep."

He ever-so-lightly brushed her lips one last time. "'Night, Princess."

"Goodnight, Han," she breathed in a whisper.

He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. They both drifted quickly into a satisfied sleep.


	4. Chapter 4: Not This Again

Sorry.. a bit late. Also, thank you to everyone favoriting and following. Sincerely, thank you!

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 4: Not This Again

The next morning, Han awoke to an empty bed. It was a sad state of affairs for a naked man first thing in the morning when he had gone to sleep with a very naked and willing Princess in his bed.

The fresher door was closed. Maybe she would be back in a few minutes. It was early yet, no need for them to rush getting up.

He rolled over and thought about the night before. Finally, they had had a breakthrough! He couldn't wait to kiss her now that she was open to it. Her lips were so sensuous that he honestly didn't know how he would ever stop kissing her long enough to lift off this backwater rock.

Plans of holding her in his arms, kissing her and loving her as they sat in cockpit of the Falcon danced through his mind. Once in hyperspace, he would pull her over onto his lap and kiss her until she moaned for more. Then he would carry her into his cabin and they would make love. This time it would be sweet, gentle, loving and full of kisses. He would not only crave her, but adore her in ways that she could see and feel how much he loved her. Yes, love.

Briefly, he wondered if he was losing his edge, but decided it was worth it when it came to Leia. No other being had ever had an effect on him the way she did. Loving her came with an exhilaration that couldn't be matched. It paled even when compared to being fully concentrated and forced to pilot to the edge of his abilities.

The fresher door slid open and she emerged fully clothed with her hands hovering over her hair putting the last pieces of the braiding into place.

His face fell as his initial hopes for the start of the day were dashed. Looking on the bright side, he decided whatever she had put on or done to her hair could be taken off and undone. It might just be fun in the process.

Jumping out of bed, he walked up to where she stood focused on her pack sitting on the cabinet. He put his arms around her and pulled her back against him, placing a kiss on top of her head. "Morning, Leia"

She pulled away from him and turned to face him. Her tone was mystified and affronted, "What do you think you're doing?"

Confused at her arm's length reaction, he echoed her tone, "I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm getting ready to leave. We need to get back to base so we can report on our mission."

"It's early." He soothed gently. "We have plenty of time for a mission of our own." He took a step towards her, his lop-sided smile sliding up his face a bit goofily, "I haven't even kissed you 'Good Morning' yet."

She took another step back and averted her eyes from his naked form. "That's not happening. In fact, none of it is happening ever again."

"Sweetheart, what's going on?"

She kept her eyes averted and returned to packing her things, "Captain, please get dressed. We need to leave."

"Not this again," Han sighed exasperated. "Leia –"

"That's right! Not _this_ again and not anything else _ever_ again!" She sliced the air with her hand with finality. "I'll wait for you downstairs." She picked up her bag and headed to the door.

"Stay here. It's not a good idea for you to be hanging around downstairs."

"Then I'll wait in hallway outside the door."

"Look, just hang on, Your Worship." He grabbed his entire pack and walked toward the fresher, pointing to her. "I'll go into the fresher and get ready. Stay in here so we don't invite problems."

Han aggravatedly threw his pack onto the counter in the fresher as the door slid shut.

Some of the tension released, he sighed before stepping into the sonics. This was far from the way he imagined this morning playing out. She was right about one thing, this wasn't going to happen again. No more sex with her until she openly faced her feelings for him.

Because of her, he was already a champion masturbator in between missions. She wouldn't end up leaving him any more frustrated than usual. He might as well channel that energy into deciding how this relationship was going to end.

She insisted she wouldn't have sex with him again, but he knew she was almost as weak as he when it came to resisting their sexual appetite for one another. If he held out, there was a good chance she would see to it they were sent on another mission alone eventually.

Still, he knew he couldn't take this circular banthashit anymore. After the intense crescendo of their lovemaking last night and her over-reactive shutting down this morning, his heart got stepped on.

He had to get to her admit her feelings or there was never going to be a relationship between them – sexual or otherwise. He thought about trying to romance her, but Leia was too strong-minded to fall for most of his tried-and-true moves. Mostly, he had used them to get women into bed and, honestly, he never had to try all that much. He never needed those moves to get Leia to have sex with him. He had never tried to romance a woman for the sake of love. He had no moves for that.

 _Great_ , he thought. _How the hell am I supposed to do this?_

It was complicated between them.

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	5. Chapter 5: Funny Running into You

Hey, if you have favorited or followed me or the the fic: Thank You! Nice to have you aboard! This one is short, but there's some fun to it.

 **xxxmtfbwyxxx**

Chapter 5: Funny Running into You

Han tried. He really tried. At least, he thought he had. Still Leia had given him no encouragement or reason to believe he was getting anywhere romantically with her. They had spent the last few weeks on base since their return from the last mission in what could best be called 'disengagement'. However, the more he tried to approach her, the more she would flatly shut him down and at some point began making herself seriously scarce.

He thought about her. He had chuckled to himself about how pathetic he had become when he thought about kissing her more than having sex with her. It was eye-opening, the deeper feelings she stirred within him.

It was the very next day he ran into her. Literally. Neither one apologized to the other. In fact, she glared at him seemingly for daring to cross her path at all. He couldn't think anything other than how beautiful she looked when all fired up at him like that.

Although angry, the passion behind those eyes flicked on some sort of launch sequence in his nether region that caused him to stare back at her with intent. She must have recognized the look in his eyes because she took a step back.

Unfortunately, the wall directly behind her foiled her plan for a quick escape. Han let his slow sexy smile slide up his face and leaned his arms against the wall on either side of her before leaning his mouth to her ear.

"I'm so hard for you, Princess."

"I said 'never again', Captain," she stammered not leaving his eyes.

"I'm saying 'right here, right now.'"

Her breathing had become hard enough for her chest to heave up and down visibly. Her deep brown eyes had quickly dilated. Han knew she was as aroused as he was at that moment. The accompanying familiar flash in her eyes confirmed that she was actually considering it.

Noise of people heading their way down an adjoining corridor disrupted their intimate virtual lock on each other.

"No," she blustered as she abruptly pushed him back with both palms.

They stood in silence as the people passed by without so much as glancing their way and disappeared down the hallway.

Han sighed. The moment broken and now currently irretrievable, he had to think of something fast or he may not see her again for who knew how long. Her avoidance techniques were quite good.

"Okay, tell you what. Why don't you skip the mess hall tonight and come have dinner with Chewie and me?"

"No, thank you," she replied with polite distance in her voice and demeanor.

"C'mon, I'll make your favorite. When was the last time you had that, huh?"

Han could feel her resolve wanting to waver, but he knew she wouldn't give in that easily. That's okay, he had an idea. "What's the matter? You don't trust Chewie to be a big enough chaperone for you?"

"I trust Chewie, but how do I know you haven't already convinced him that I somehow want him to leave us alone?"

Han shook his head and chuckled at that. "You think too much, Princess. Chewie would never desert you if you told him to stay, regardless of what I would tell him to do. You know that."

"You're right about that," she reconsidered. "All the same, it's still a no."

Han shifted on his feet, trying to not get exasperated. "Fine, why don't you bring your favorite aspiring Jedi then? I'm sure he can protect you from me."

That was the ticket, the golden-haired ticket to success.

"Well, okay, if he's available, then I'll go."

"I'm sure he's available, Sweetheart." Han rolled his eyes. He knew the kid would make himself available. Anything for the Princess. "Besides, it'll be good to see him."

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	6. Chapter 6: Princess Lost

Ok... love you all - **_seriously_** \- but I got this _._ You _know_ how much I like to tangle them up before I untangle it all. Be Jedi-like and practice , onto more um, pressing matters ;) ...you'll see why I winked.

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 6: Princess Lost

 _Damn him! Damn that man to his nine Corellian hells!_

The door slid shut and Leia paced the room trying to control her emotions. What was it with her that he had this kind of effect? Whenever they were around one another, it was never simple. Passion of some sort or another was the only constant between them. Either they were fighting or they were…

 _How did it come to this?_

Leia looked toward the ceiling to stem the wave of tears that threatened to overtake her. She refused to shed tears over him. That one time was more than enough.

She prided herself on controlling her emotions and herself in general. So, how had things gone so very far out of control? Become so tangled? The feelings he stirred up in her were overwhelming. She had never felt less in control than when she was around him. Everything was wrong and right at the same time. Mostly, it was a mangled mess and logic was useless against it.

Almost from the minute she saw him, she wanted him. She realized it could've had something to do with her mental state at the time. The newly worn off interrogation drugs, the impact of watching Alderaan die, and her resolved feelings about her own certain termination left her feeling vulnerable.

Once she and Luke had encountered him in the prison hallway, she instantly identified Han as a strong leader. She had wanted to latch onto him and let him lead her out… for about thirty seconds, before she saw she would have to do it herself. Still, in that trash compactor, he had done his best to take care of her. Even after assisting Luke in blowing up the Death Star, he had made his sense of protectiveness for her apparent. A part of her was drawn to that, but that wasn't the source of her attraction.

There was something about him that she couldn't dismiss. Maybe it was his foolhardy level of courage? That had really struck an instant chord in her. More likely it was his unfailing and sometimes infuriating confidence. Where most men had a habit of falling at her feet or gushing over her, Solo sauntered around expecting her to chase him. Force knew she had to stop herself from doing it – even now. The man was the sheer embodiment of sexual swagger and had the experience and skills to back it up.

Nevertheless, Leia hated it when a plan backfired. All she had wanted to do was get him out of her system. Yes, it had been a somewhat impulsive plan, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Eventually, she had concluded her growing attraction to him was a way for her to hide from the sorrow of Alderaan. It was her mind's way to distract her from the pain that lurked beneath her surface threatening to engulf her entirely. Grieving Alderaan was not something she could allow herself now and possibly never if she were serious about taking down the Empire. Clamping down on those feelings and compartmentalizing them had left an empty dead space that Han Solo's natural larger-than-life personality seemed to fill up effortlessly. Luke's gentle sweetness claimed some of that space, but Han made her feel alive again and that was addicting in ways that she couldn't have predicted.

While her physical attraction to him was a definite distraction from Alderaan, Han Solo threatened to wreck her focus on the Alliance as well. Ignoring it all became impossible. Dealing with it appeared the only option. The plan had been solely a way to acknowledge her undeniable sexual attraction and assuage it, hoping the feeling would be dispelled and let her get back to her real focus.

On that fateful mission, she had enough of her irritating Han Solo distraction and decided to deal with it. She would handle it like any other obstacle. Confront it head on, get it over with and be able to move onto important things. There was no need to bring emotions into it when it was purely hormonal. She never felt bad about using him to satiate her built up desire for one second. After all, he was getting something nobody had ever had out of the deal: her.

Besides, the Captain of the Millennium Falcon wasn't a naïve boy from some backwater system like Luke. He was experienced in the ways of the galaxy and unquestionably experienced where women were concerned. With his intensely handsome looks, he had plenty of female attention and wasn't the looking for a relationship anytime soon.

It had worked like a charm, too, except for the hiccup with the kissing. She shouldn't have been surprised, but was anyway. Having considered it plenty of times before, Leia decided that was a dangerous idea. Being new at the game, she didn't trust herself. It was very possible that if she kissed him, she wouldn't be able to keep it purely sexual.

Kissing always seemed so emotionally intimate. You're looking into each other's eyes with all the vulnerability your soul has to offer as you are drawn to one another. Granted she had very little experience in the kissing department and none in the sexual department, for that matter, before Han came into her life.

Now, she was an expert in the latter and aching to become an expert in the former. But back then, everything was fine and she thought she was through with it. She was focused and fully in control of her faculties and emotions. In fact, after their sexual romp, she felt freer than she ever had. She was no longer the uninitiated virgin, her long built-up arousing desires had been assuaged, and she went out the business of taking down the Empire with more energized focus than ever before.

Well, that worked for a few days. Once she saw Solo again, her hormones started arguing with her and with him. At first, it wasn't terrible. She was able to dismiss it, handle it. When he came to close, it was easy to find a way to argue with him to get him to back off and make herself not want to be around him.

There were short missions with him after that, but not alone. Someone was always there and the buffer proved enough to deter them from taking any action. However, the exposure to each other and reliance on one another for the mission would encourage her latent desires. Again, she tamped these hormones down and relegated them to a corner of her being where she attempted to ignore them.

Meanwhile, Han was increasingly on the warpath urging her to acknowledge what happened between them. At some point, they had found themselves alone for a second time on a mission. She wanted to cut him off at the pass in case he had any stupid ideas. She told him point blank to forget anything ever happened, dismissing it as merely a matter of fortuitous circumstance on that mission …

"I told you to forget it, Captain."

"C'mon, Sweetheart, how can you say you don't want to do it again, huh?"

"It was a one-time thing that will not be repeated. Surely, you've dealt with that situation before."

"Of course, but you're different from those women."

She narrowed her eyes at him wondering what his angle was. It bothered her that he seemingly just complimented her. With him though, it could be anything.

"You _are_ a princess."

"Yes, and you did benefit on that front. So drop it." She glared at him

He considered her point for a second before understanding came over him. He leaned backward onto a heel and wagged a contemptible finger at her. "Oh, I get it. I won the 'pirate's prize,' so I should consider myself a lucky guy." The sarcasm that dripped from his voice felt like poison to her. He waved his hand in dismissal and walked towards the in-room small bar of their hotel. "Fine. Pleasure doing business with ya, Your Royalness."

He poured a whiskey and downed it in one gulp, no longer paying attention to her. He went to pour another, decided against it and headed for the door obviously intent on drinking elsewhere.

… She had drawn herself up as haughtily as possible knowing she was close to her goal of him walking away from her and leaving her alone. To this day, she didn't know why she couldn't have just left it at that. It made no sense to her at all…

"What's the 'pirate's prize?"

Stopping in mid-stride, he turned and stalked back to where she was standing. His hazel eyes were so darkly penetrating and his strides so determined that Leia found herself taking several steps backward until she was almost backed up against a wall.

"I was your first. The 'pirate's prize' is a princess's virginity." He growled with intent. "You've never heard that before?"

She shook her head. A little scared and suddenly uncontrollably aroused by his strong body looming so closely over her that she swore she felt his voice vibrate.

He studied her eyes for a long moment looking for something. She didn't know what he had been looking for, but she held his judging gaze.

"There's one thing wrong with your idea Princess. It's only good when a pirate _takes_ the prize."

He grabbed her hands, butterflied them up next to her head and pressed his body against hers. Han's face hovered so close she knew he could feel her breath on his face the way she felt his. He did nothing. Waited.

She leaned into him with a start. It was enough to push him away and allow her right leg to lift up over his hip. She would never forget the look on his face as he noticed her actions and how his crooked half-smile slowly slid up his face turning her on even more. His smile had grown to full strength when she immediately leaned her weight back into her hands and shoulders for leverage to repeat the movement with her right leg and latch her left leg around him.

"I dare you, Hotshot." If anyone was going to be the aggressor in this, it was going to be her. She had to keep control for her plan to work. Besides, he was her prey, not the other way around.

"You're somethin' else, Princess."

Solo stepped back allowing her legs to fall down to the floor once again. He released her hands to use his to unfasten her pants and rip off her panties immediately placing his mouth where they had been. Leia gripped his head and moaned.

He ripped open his own pants and snaked off her pants from her ankles. His hands found the bare skin of her hips and waist stroking up the sides until he covered her breasts. Her nipples were already taut with desire when his fingertips brought the nerve endings there to a new level, causing Leia to dig her nails into his shoulders as her head fell back against the wall with another moan.

Han went straight for her throat where he knew she liked it and sucked as he reached down to her naked softness to stroke her only once or twice before pushing a his finger inside of her. Leia couldn't stop another moan escaping. Han growled and joined the first finger with a second and her sense of wantonness grew instantly.

She almost slipped when he lifted his head to kiss her, but she roughly shoved her hands through his hair and grabbed his head at the last moment. Planting her mouth on his ear, she darted her wet tongue in and out of his ear. As she gyrated with his finger movement, she whispered huskily into his ear in challenge, "Is that how you claim your prize, Captain?"

Leia felt him jerk from her hot breath in his moist ear. In answer, his hand slipped out from between them. He grabbed her around the waist and pushed her higher up the wall.

"No more 'nice guy' then." He smoothed his hands down over her buttocks as she cradled her legs around him and thrust himself inside of her.

Her body gripped all of him as he filled her up, forcing him to freeze in place. He clenched his eyes shut and threw his head back as he growled, "You feel so fucking good."

He began to thrust slowly at first then adjusted his stance and found an extremely pleasurable rhythm that combined the forceful roughness of taking her and true sweet hunger of desire. She arched her body to meet his seeking the full pleasure.

He grunted roughly at her eagerness, "You like it rough, Princess?" Pinning her to the wall with his weight, he captured both of her hands, and pinned them above her. He held them there with one hand as he adjusted his hold on her with the other. "I'm gonna spoil your tight little cunt for anyone but me."

Every time he pounded into her body, her breath left her as her arousal grew…

 _No, no, no!_

Thinking like that would get her nowhere! Han Solo ignited hormones were not going to rule her. She knew her emotions were yearning for him along with her desire. It had to stop and it had to stop definitively before it went beyond her control altogether.

Force knows she tried to keep her sexual needs completely separate from her life in the Rebellion, but she had not counted on her desire for the Corellian growing exponentially after each mission. She had thought after two years, it would have worked its way out of her system or his and he would've left by now. It had only been a handful of missions where they had been alone, but that should've been enough time.

If anything, Leia was craving him more than ever. It was as if they had gone back to the beginning. When he cornered her in the base hallway the other day, she had to use every bit of her control not to pull him into a nearby supply storeroom and rip his clothes off. She loathed that he had that effect on her. She hated that her feelings had flourished for him as well.

That first kiss in the shower had been her complete undoing and she knew it. After that night, she woke knowing it all had to stop because she was out of control and that was unacceptable. Especially, with their accidental bumping into each other just now unraveling her yet again. Her plan was decidedly not working.

 _I have to figure this out_

It wasn't the kissing after all, she surmised. It was that there was too long a break in between naked romps with him. Her efforts at nearly full avoidance had been preventing her from removing him from her system.

It had been a good plan. It was _still_ a good plan. It just needed some slight modification. If she could think of a way to relieve the built up pressure between them while they were on base, it should do the trick of making it all become less tantalizing or even interesting. Once sex was just sex between them, then she could put the whole idea away and move on.

So could Han. How long had she been trying to get him to formally join the Alliance to no avail? Too long. He wasn't interested in any sort of commitment to the Alliance and therefore, could never be interested in any sort of genuine commitment to her. Any man that she could take the time and energy to trust with her feelings would never leave her and would see how important it was to give his all to the Rebellion.

The whole point of this venture had been to protect herself from caring about or forming close relationships with people. Otherwise she would be left vulnerable to the Empire taking them away from her and devastating her continually. Keeping her distance emotionally meant she could focus on the greater need of caring about everyone that the Empire oppressed as a whole. She could be much more effective that way. Personal entanglements would distract from that and losing someone close to her heart would be too painful to bear after Alderaan.

As long as they used each other and neither one cared, it didn't matter. The problem was that she was feeling more emotions that couldn't be ignored and was not in a position to handle any of it.

She could figure this out. In the name of self-preservation, she simply had to. It no longer mattered how it had come to this. It had to fixed.

She commed Luke to see if he was available. She hated to admit it, but Han had been right. Luke would do anything for her.

"Luke?"

"Leia! How are you?"

"I'm wondering if you are interested in having dinner on the Falcon with me tonight. It seems Captain Solo is willing to cook for us."

"And I suppose that includes a round or two of sabacc?" Luke chuckled.

"He didn't mention that, but knowing Han that's a given." Leia laughed as well.

"Sounds like fun. I'll come find you after my shift."

"Ok. I'll be in the Command Center. See you then."

"See you then, Princess."

Knowing Han there would be sabacc, for sure. Knowing Han. Sabacc. An idea formulated in her head. This could work.

xxxmtfbwyxxx


	7. Chapter 7:Games

Ok,sorry it'a bit late. Thank you to everyone favoriting and following along. It's awesome to see that. Cool!

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 7: Games Scoundrels and Princesses Play

After winning the latest round of sabacc, Chewie declared he was beat and went off to bed. Han looked to Leia to see if her expression would change in any way that would indicate she had a problem with that. He wasn't surprised when she didn't do anything but wish the Wookiee a goodnight.

That left only Skywalker sitting between them. The company had been fun, but Solo was out for bigger stakes. He knew the Princess was aware of it and she still showed up anyway albeit with Luke in tow.

Interesting.

So she wanted to be here, but not alone. Either she really didn't want anything to happen between them or she didn't trust herself to be alone with him. Either way, Solo liked his odds. Half the battle was getting her this far.

It seemed that during the course of dinner, she had dropped her shields enough to relax a bit and have a drink. She was even the one to suggest they play sabacc in the first place. Now, all he had to do was maintain this status between them and let their chemistry and hormones have the lead.

He dealt another round and looked over the top of his hand to first check Luke for his usual tells and then onto Leia, simply because he enjoyed looking at her.

What was interesting was he found her looking right back at him. He smiled as if there was a secret between them and indeed there was. Her smile answered him in kind. Not only had she been pleasant this evening, but she was smiling directly at him. Oh, yeah, his Corellian luck was shining brightly on him tonight.

Luke chose that moment to look up from his own hand and his eyes shuttled between the two. "Hey, what's going on? Did I miss something?"

"Probably," Han jabbed good-naturedly although it was sarcastic in tone. Solo's eyes never left hers.

Leia's eyes focused back intently on Han. "Luke, I don't think you're going to win this hand."

Apparently oblivious, Luke looked again at his awful hand and grimaced. "You're probably right. I'm not having any luck at all tonight." He dropped his cards on the table. "In fact, I think I'm going to quit trying for the night. I have an early rotation in the morning anyway. I'm going to head out."

"Ok, Kid. Nice seein' ya. Don't be a stranger." Han leaned in toward the table in silent challenge knowing what Luke would say next. His looked at her expectantly.

Luke stood and stretched next to the table. "You want me to walk you back, Leia?"

The Princess flicked a quick glance in Skywalker's direction before shaking her head. "No, I think I'm going to stay here and finish this round. I wouldn't want to walk away from a showdown with the Captain while I have the upper hand."

Leia returned her stare to Solo as if daring him.

Luke chuckled. "Alright." He looked back and forth between them once more and hesitated. His face plainly showed that there was definitely some strong energy from these two, but it wasn't anything he hadn't already seen before. "Uh, try not to kill each other, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kid." Han nodded.

Leia raised her eyebrow in mischievous confidence. "No promises."

Neither Han nor Leia moved until they heard the hatch shut and the lock cycle.

"So, Princess, do you have an early rotation?"

"I might."

He eyebrows raised together in consideration. "Both of your chaperones are gone. You okay with that?"

One of her eyebrows quirked up in answer. "Should I have cause for concern, Captain?"

That was the second time she called him 'Captain' in the last few minutes. He never discussed names with their clothes on, but she had to know the effect it had on him when that name came from her lips.

"No." His smile slanted up the right side of his face. "After all, you have the upper hand, according to you."

"That's right."

Visions of her naked on top of him, riding him through ecstasy danced through his brain and caused the rest of his body to generate a definite response. He never spent any significant time wondering why she was so easily able to arouse him.

"So what sort of showdown are we talking here, Princess?" It was time to find out why she was really here and what had been going on with her all night.

"A bet. On this hand."

Han checked his hand again. "What's the bet?"

"If I win, then you leave me alone."

"Define 'leave you alone.'"

"You stop pursuing me and the idea of any relationship."

Solo considered her words and the consequences of them. "Does that mean our friendship, too? How are you going to explain that to Luke?"

She shrugged and studied her cards. "I have no problem with a civil acquaintance and socializing as a group on occasion. It would be my decision at the time."

His face animated as he was wont to do when he heard terms he thought were ludicrous to the situation. "Civil acquaintance?"

She must want him more than he thought if she felt the need to keep her distance from him to that degree. Luckily, he had a strong hand. Even if he didn't, he would make sure that he won. He couldn't lose her when he was so close. "What if I win?"

"What do you want?" Her tone was surprisingly open rather than the sarcasm that had been expected.

Han waited until she met his eyes again and kept his voice gentle. "You know what I want."

He wanted her to understand his emotions were real and most likely so were hers. This wasn't just about sex for him and he wanted her to give it an honest shot with him without sex being the impetus. However, as much as he wanted her to open up emotionally, he was well aware that she was trying to fight it. In fact, she might just drop the whole thing if he went straight for that idea. She had proven her ability to find ways of keeping herself away from him if need be. He decided to keep the bet more nebulous and he could ease her into the idea of a being a in a real relationship with him as they went along. It's not as if he didn't enjoy sex with her and would be more than happy to be with her more often. "You. I want you."

She showed no emotion. And Solo knew she was working hard at doing so. She obviously picked up on the deeper parts of his vague answer. He had said it meaning he wanted all of her, not just her body. Leia's wariness stemmed from an obvious place because he had tried more than once to make it happen.

"What _specifically_ , do you want?" Her voice was slightly unsteady, but her tone was all business.

 _Steady. Don't lose her now,_ he reminded himself. He needed to be careful because she was smart and this may be his best shot with her. Solo knew he had to keep it in her 'comfort' zone with him or there would be no bet. Still, he wasn't about to make it too easy on her. She would see through that in blink anyway. "No matter where you are or what you're doing, you have to drop it and do whatever I want."

She was incredulous. "You want me to be your whore?"

"No!" He pointed at her in instant anger and wondered if he had been wrong all along. He changed his demeanor and let his pointing finger become flat with the rest of his hand and waved it smoothly through the air. He lowered his voice again to a more soothing tone, "I want you to let go and be my willing partner."

He stared at her and felt a small charge as she gave it serious thought. The idea of being able to just walk up to her and her kiss him and let him put her arms around her was exciting after all of this time. Maybe not right away, but somewhere down this road.

"Complete discretion, right? I'm not interest in broadcasting my private life to the rest of base or to Luke… or Chewie."

Solo's hopes dashed a little, but she wasn't saying no. "Ok, only in private."

"No cornering me in the halls like yesterday. Nothing like that at all. Got it?"

"I understand what complete discretion means, Your Worship." He looked a bit irritated. "I can't promise Chewie because he lives here and he might figure it out, but otherwise, I'm onboard. Are you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "For how long?"

His mischievous grin slanted part way up his face. "I guess that depends on how lucky you're feeling."

Leia checked her hand again and looked back up at Han. "Six months."

Han laughed. "You must be feeling pretty lucky." He was a little nervous though that even if he did win, she wouldn't be as amenable to his wishes for that long and if she somehow did win, he didn't want to be without her for so long. "How about three months?"

"Three months. Deal."

"Deal. Whaddya got?"

She laid her hand on the table. It was good. Damn good.

"Pretty good, Princess. Tough to beat." Han smiled slowly and laid his hand on the table, he wouldn't even have to cheat. "But lucky for us, I just did."

She sat silent as if processing what just happened. She didn't seem upset or resigned as he thought she might. There was a part of him that believed she had left it up to fate, the Force, or whatever whether she was meant to be with him or not.

At any rate, she had her answer.

"What's it going to be, Princess?" He asked genuinely. He made it plain he was giving her a chance to back out.

"Fair is fair. I'm yours." She shrugged and looked truly vulnerable for the first time that he could recall.

Han gulped. He didn't want her like this. As happy as he was that he won, he wasn't interested in forcing her to be with him. That was not the kind of man he was. He waved his hands crossing them through the air dismissively. "You know what? Let's forget it. I don't want it this way."

Suddenly, Leia got up and sat next to him. Han watched as she slowly ran her hand down the front of his shirt and stopped when she reached the buckle of his blaster rig that sat over his groin. She snapped it open.

"So _now_ you don't want me?" She asked with her deep alto teasing him.

They had never done anything on the Falcon before. This was new territory.

"Oh, I want you." His voice raised an octave in excitement. "But I want to know that you want me."

"I never said I didn't want you." She sat back and gave him an odd look of questioning. "Don't you remember how this started in the first place?"

xxxmtfbwyxxx

A/N: Ok, I saw another author say something similar and I think it applies here. This fic is not intended to be the usual type of fic I write. I posted warnings that it was AU and rated it accordingly. I do not expect everyone that normally reads my fic to want to read this one. It's different and I know that. It's not meant to be a pure sexual romp. It has the normal angst of their relationship and a real story, but if you don't agree. That is fine. There are plenty of people that are enjoying it. Don't flame me by hiding behind guest reviews. It's not going to change anything because I write what I want and then share it to those that are interested. I thought it was a fun little departure of a fic that I wrote a couple of years ago. You don't have to read it if it bothers you. Soon enough I will be posting Long, Long Way to Go and all will be back to 'normal', ok? Thanks for listening.


	8. Chapter 8: A Bet is a Bet

Ok, there was a more tame chapter here, but I'm replacing it after 10 requests for the original version. Enjoy it here the way I originally meant it.

Chapter 8: A Bet is a Bet

It finally struck Solo that she had intended this bet to happen since before she showed up tonight. He got it loud and clear. She wanted to have sex with him to hide from her deeper emotions. So here they were again back at the beginning of the circle albeit with a slight difference this time. They were on base and in the Falcon. Chewie was just down the hallway. He wished he knew what was going on with her, but right now, he wasn't as interested in asking questions. It seemed like she was about to give him a repeat performance of their first time together right here in the Falcon's lounge.

"One of the best nights of my life, Sweetheart." He had trouble finishing his sentence because she already had him exposed and erect.

Suddenly, there was a loud snorting snore from the direction of Chewbacca's cabin. Leia looked at Han and smirked wickedly. "We obviously don't have to worry about being interrupted."

Leia's skills had definitely advanced in this area. He was at her mercy in moments versus minutes. Somehow, he drew her off of him. There was no way she was going to be in charge of this. She may think she just pulled a fast one on him, but this wasn't his first go round in life or with her.

He stood up and used his hands on her shoulders to encourage her to do the same. "Nah, uh,uh, Princess. I won the bet, so I decide what we do and when we do it."

Her eyebrows knitted in disbelief. "Since when you do not want me to do that?"

"Let's just say I have something else in mind."

"What?"

His lopsided grin slid up the right side of his handsome face. "Half the fun is you finding out along the way."

He tucked himself back into his pants albeit reluctantly, but he had to stick to the greater cause the best he knew how. Then, he took her by the hand with the intention of taking her back to his cabin, but she looked so sexy with her quizzical smile lifting just the corners of her mouth while her eyes virtually sparkled with curiosity that he couldn't help stopping and a few steps later and pushing her up against the access door of the circuitry alcove.

He studied her face for a moment and felt his emotions hitch in his stomach. He wanted her. He wanted all of her and he wanted it more desperately than he thought was possible. It scared him how much he wanted this woman and how much he wanted her to want him the same way.

His intense gaze went from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes. It was the only subtle hint he was going to give her about his intention to kiss her. If she were going to rebuff him, now would be the moment. Instead of rebuffing him, she copied his action, making a point to linger her own gaze on his lips before dragging her eyes back up to his, her lips parted spontaneously as her eyes locked back into his.

Han let the intensity between them build as his fingertips stroked through her hair and his hand slowly found a place behind her ear. Once their lips touched, he was lost in their connection. Her lips felt softer than he remembered from their last mission. She felt softer, too. He crushed her closer to him and deepened the kiss. He felt her respond and lean into him as she succumbed to his mouth and body.

"Time to take this somewhere more comfortable, Princess." His voice had a hoarseness to it after breaking the kiss. In seconds, he had them already half undressed and in the Captain's cabin with the door locked.

His initial plan had been to make love to her, sweetly, gently, taking their time. He wanted to show her the difference between fucking and making love with the hope that she would allow her emotions to meld with her lust and they would have something real between them. Han knew that particular something was already there just waiting for them. He felt it and he knew she had to feel it, too. But this extremely hot yet mindless sex was getting in the way of them having it all.

That was the plan, but right now, it had been too long since he had been inside of her and he had already tried to slow things down once tonight to no avail. He was a man in control, but he was too aroused and she was too beautiful and willing. The fact that he knew she would be wet and ready for him already was driving him to the brink of his current insanity. He wasn't so far gone that the momentousness of the moment was lost, however.

He did take a moment to sit up and look at her in his bunk.

"What's wrong?" She asked in response to his wry smile.

"Just want to remember seeing you here." He stroked her from her cheek down over her sensual curves and smiled hungrily as his gaze lingered over her naked skin enjoying the way his touch made her eyes close awash in desire. "Like this. With me."

He moved to frame his body over hers, positioning himself at her entrance. Now face to face, he lost himself in her eyes as her body beneath him invited him to bring them both the completeness they longed for. "You're amazing, Princess."

He brought his lips to hers and felt his body respond when she initiated deepening the kiss by thrusting her tongue into his mouth as she curved her body and shifted so he would slip into her. As before, Han groaned loudly into her mouth and was surprised he didn't orgasm right then. Leia had a way of exciting him that made him have to fight for control. She could do that without kissing him. Now that she was willing to kiss him, she brought his excitement to levels he never knew existed.

He broke free of her mouth in order to continue what she essentially started. There was no going slow about this anymore. He was driving them fast and hard. He heard her moan as she threw her head back and knew she was close. She held tight to his arms as she met him in their passionate rhythm. Moments later, her eyes pinched shut and she moaned in sheer satisfaction. That had all he had been waiting for. Solo let himself follow her into orgasm, openly growling at the release before collapsing.

After a few moments, he regained consciousness enough to disengage their slick bodies, but was still panting for breath.

"I'm beginning to think this is the best bet I ever made."

Leia slung an arm over her face attempting to regain her breath as well. If she agreed, she wasn't saying it out loud. In fact, a few moments later, instead of reaching for the covers, she rolled off the bunk and went in search of her clothes on the floor.

"What're you doing?"

She smirked as she picked up her shirt and dropped it over her head. "I'm guessing we're done here for the night."

Han jumped out of bed and pulled her to his naked body. "That doesn't mean I want you to leave." He kissed her softly feeling her shirt between them. "C'mon, stay."

She knew she should go. He was stirring up real feelings, the warm and loving sort and she didn't like it. This bet was supposed to give her that step backwards with him, not forward. She needed to be separate from her feelings, not attached to them. That was the whole point so she could let them be fettered away. She needed to steer this back into that direction right now.

"I have things to do besides you." Leia insisted lightly inserting the sexual overtone to her words on purpose.

He hugged her tighter and then let his hands drop down to caress her lower still naked curves. He gave her his best come-hither smolder and narrowed his eyes. "You know I like it when you talk dirty."

Yes, she did. It was exactly why she said it that way. Her hands moved off of his shoulders and down to his forearms to encourage him to let go. "I believe that I've fulfilled my end of the bet enough for tonight."

Han smiled. She was making this too easy, besides he knew it sparked her just as much when he talked dirty, too. "You mean that I've 'fulfilled' you, but I would love a shot at fulfilling _your_ end, Sweetheart." He finished his thought with a sensual deep kiss thrusting his tongue into her mouth and dragging it along the roof of her mouth purposefully.

The kiss had left her somewhat breathless, but she was still quick with her sultry comeback. "I bet you would, Hotshot, but some other time. I doubt you're _up_ for that tonight."

Was she kidding? He was already halfway there in the head above his ears and was feeling stirrings below. This openly erotic woman had always had a phenomenal effect on him that he could never explain. He hadn't been able to have this quick of a turnaround since he was nineteen. Again he crushed her to him in a searing kiss. His hands pushed from under her buttocks bringing her pelvis up towards his now hardening groin. He reached under her as his fingers found their way into her still dripping wet folds and teased her a bit. Then, while his left hand kept up the teasing, a wet finger on his right hand dipped ever so gently into her anus a couple of times. Clearly, he was ready to make good on the side bet if she was willing.

"You should know better than to make a bet with me by now. Especially one where I end up inside of you," he rumbled seductively as he let her catch her breath once again. He expected her to be surprised at his maneuver. They had done a lot of various positions before and he'd even done that finger play before making sure she was already very relaxed and heady from orgasm, but not the actual act they were toying with presently. Instead of her eyes being fearful or showing any sort of trepidation, he saw the spark of her wanting to play and that ignited him even further.

"We would need-"

"In the drawer next to the bed." He knew she was referring to lubricant. "Lonely nights between missions with you, Your Worship," he explained in answer to her raised eyebrow. The addition of her other eyebrow rising to meet the other in surprise also gave him an excuse to inject some more emotional connection. "I've only been with you since we started. You're the only one I want, Leia."

They hadn't talked about being exclusive and he had only briefly wondered about it in the beginning. He knew that once the first sexual experience was had, it wasn't a big leap to wanting more. Just because they had been together during missions, didn't mean she wasn't seeking out intimacy with someone else. She was a master at discretion and hiding, after all. He looked at her expectantly hoping she would answer the unspoken question hanging in the air between them.

Leia waited what seemed an interminable amount of time, she seemed to be weighing his confession and her expected answer. Finally, she whispered, "I've only been with you, too."

Still holding her close, he kissed her again and whispered, "Are you really in rush? 'Cause this is can't be rushed."

She considered it for a few moments as if she were again assessing him for something else. "I'm willing to take the time. Have you done it before?"

"Enough to know what I'm doing and how to make it good for you. We can stop at any time, but it's about full submission. Can you handle that?" He wondered if this was really a good point in their 'relationship' for this. The thought of it drove him wild, but it would be a big deal for her. She'd always been sexually adventurous with him, but this was on a whole different level. It had to be one hundred percent her call.

"You said you wanted me." She stroked his chest lightly, her eyes following the trails left by her fingers. Realizing he was waiting for her to look up at him, she lifted her eyes to his sincere stare.

"I _do_ want you, Leia."

"Take me."


	9. Chapter 9: Cargo Bay 3

Have I mentioned I have the best readers around? The support here is tremendous and awesome! Thank you!

[A special shoutout and thanks to Arrallute for playing the part of a muse thus causing me to go back and involve Cargo Bay#3 in a more prominent way]

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Chapter 9: Cargo Bay #3

As much as she was trying to pay attention to the information being discussed in the morning meeting, her mind was elsewhere. Specifically, it was back in the Millennium Falcon's Captain's cabin …and the lounge …and the ringed corridor that led from the lounge to the cabin.

The bet proved an opportunity to take back control. For a smart guy, Solo could be pretty dumb. It was her plan the whole time. She won either way. If she won the bet, he would've surely lost interest in her by the end of three months. Likely, he would've found someone else to satisfy his sexual needs or he would've left the Alliance entirely.

Leia had figured if he won a few more rounds in bed with him and it wouldn't be so forbidden and enticing. It would become expected and boring for both of them. At that point, she could let it and him go, allowing her focus to return to its rightful place. In fact, it had to be working already. There was nothing she hadn't done with him now. Nothing her fantasies deemed 'naughty' to inflame her secret lust that she battled.

Han's confession of wanting only her had thrown her, though. She had always thought his pursuit of her to be something not quite that important to him. Sex with them was exhilarating and she had guessed any of his proclaimed interest along the way was more motivated by what lived just below his belt rather than just below his neck.

Once they had hit his bunk, Solo had stopped to drink in the moment. She felt as if he was trying to purposely engage an emotional connection with her rather than keeping it on a sexual level. She hadn't counted on that when she had come up with the idea of the bet. Afterwards, he asked her to stay. Confessed… The sincerity of his tone and his eyes were unnerving and she knew she would have to give herself completely to him sexually to once again get to the unemotional state of pure sex between them. She didn't count on her own emotional fallout from that moment.

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Han had thought about Leia all night after she had left. She was the first thing on his mind the next morning. She had truly given herself over to him and it had been incredible. He knew she liked to let go in the bedroom more than she cared to admit. He also knew she liked taking the reins as well. But this last time had been over the top with her. She was either taking their bet very seriously or her emotions were getting the best of her. Ideally, it would be both.

As great as it was, it effectively left her in control of him with his crushing passion for her confounding his every move. That was not gonna work. He needed to control himself so he could focus on developing the emotional aspect of their relationship while he still had the chance. With spy missions, strategy planning, and a base to oversee, Leia was indeed a busy woman. Han pitched in as much as he could. He lent his effort and skills wherever and whenever, but he couldn't afford to get tied down with his own obligations hanging over his head. Still, there was very little he wouldn't do if she asked.

One way he could really put his best skills to use was to see to it that Leia took time to relax and remember there was more to life than just fighting the Empire. In fact, on that note, he was going to make a point to spoil her now that he had an excuse for her to spend some alone time with him.

As he walked back to the aft engineering station in the Falcon, he ticked off things that needed maintenance or repair. Any ship required constant maintenance, but the Falcon required a little more than most. Then again, she was a lot better than most. He passed the rear cargo bay and inspiration struck. It would take a couple of days and it was a dirty job that he had been dreading, but Leia would be worth it. In fact, the more he thought about it, the better the idea seemed. _Sometimes I really do amaze myself._

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It was getting late. The skeleton night crew was all that was left in the Command Center. She had skipped dinner which in hindsight might have not been a good idea. She was more than a bit peckish and wondering if she could scrounge something up in the mess hall or if she should just made do with a nutrition bar. She would have to decide soon because her rumbling stomach was getting louder and while nobody was in her immediate area, they were that far away.

She blamed Solo for this. If she hadn't' spent so much time the last couple of days distracted by her thoughts of him, _yet again_ , than she would be further alone on this strategy project that she planned to present to the High Council in the next meeting in a few days. Her evening meal time had been spent trying to catch up. At least Solo hadn't sought her out to –

"Hey, there, Sweetheart." His voice rumbled happily into her ear from behind her chair.

Leia closed her eyes momentarily to steady herself from not reacting in any way. "What is it?"

"I think you already know." Coolly, Han turned and leaned back on the console in front of her and let a hint of his smirk shine through.

"Now is not a good time. I'm busy." Leia knew she probably couldn't put him off the idea for very long, but it was worth a try.

"Life and death busy? Or your normal level?"

To her annoyance, he began reading her screen and then in the ultimate betrayal, her stomach gurgled loudly again. That was it. She was done for the night and there was no way to get out of it now.

Han's head turned back towards her with a smile. "Let me guess. You worked through dinner again?"

She said nothing. She didn't have to answer to him.

"C'mon, Princess. Time to call it a day."

She looked up at him with narrowed eyes. Bet or no bet, how dare he order her around. "You do not tell me what to do, Flyboy."

He must've seen the fire in her eyes because his smile grew. "You do have other obligations, Your Most Royal Worshipfulness, remember?"

With an aggravated sigh, Leia pushed herself up to her feet. He couldn't have caught her less in the mood! Then she realized that this was exactly what she had wanted all along: to be not interested. Perfect. It had only been two days and it was already working. She knew her plan would work.

"Fine." She stole a look around the Command Center and lowered her voice, "Let's get this over with. I have important work to do."

She lead him out the door.

As they passed 3PO at a console, Han called to him. "Good work, Goldenrod."

Leia's eyebrows knitted. Since when did Han compliment 3PO? She waited for Han to file in beside her as they walked down the passageway. "Why did you just say that to him?"

Han shrugged. "Maybe I'm in a good mood."

She rolled her eyes. He was hiding something, but this wasn't the time to get it out of him. In a few minutes, she would have him under her control and she could find out then if she was still interested.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"To the Falcon. We have to work on some fantasies."

Her fist flew backwards into his stomach with lightning speed to shut him up and punish him for slipping. "Are you crazy?"

She halted in place. Her voice a harsh whisper, "Somebody might hear. You're breaking the deal."

"Ow! Don't be so rough." He rubbed his stomach more out of drama than anything else. "Nobody heard. It's late. People aren't roaming the halls this time of night."

"Either you hold up to the deal or it's off. Understood?"

She turned left and started walking down the passageway that led to the hangar with Solo right on her heels.

"You are very tense, you know that?"

"Of course, I am. I have responsibilities. There's a lot riding on our actions. We can't waste time or we might miss an opportunity to take down the Empire."

"I know all about it, Sweetheart, but how about we switch gears for a bit?"

Her interest in speaking to him stopped until they had reached the foot of the Falcon's ramp. Han was right, the base was basically shut down for the night with only the guards on duty. At least she wasn't in their direct line of sight as they approached the Falcon. It wasn't so late that it was unusual for her or Luke to be hanging around the ship at any rate. No suspicions would be raised from her being seen boarding or even leaving later. They were known to hang around with the smuggler until late.

"Where's Chewie?" she whispered.

"He was working on the lifters all day. It's heavy work even for him. He went to bed early. Probably snoring away."

She nodded and walked up the ramp. Leia made a point to look around anyway for the Wookiee as they entered the hold. He was nowhere to be seen and the ship 'felt' quiet. Still, she felt strange. It wasn't like they were on a date. It was feeling more like a business deal. Perhaps her plan was working and she wasn't feeling as emotionally attached to Solo as she thought, but now she felt too unattached. She should be happy, but she wasn't.

She was definitely tense. They had never walked together to a planned sexual encounter. It had just happened when they were together and the desire overtook them. She wasn't sure how she would last three months doing it this way.

"Are we going to your cabin?" Leia said feeling more awkward around him than ever before.

"I have something to show you." He took her by the hand and led her around the access ring walking beyond the Captain's cabin to Cargo Bay #3. She had only been in there once. It was the smallest of the cargo holds on the Falcon. Bay #3 had been full of various junk when she had seen it last. It also happened to be the furthest away from Chewie's makeshift cabin.

He punched the door lock and the door slid open to reveal nothing but junk piled high almost right to the door.

"What's going on?"

"C'mon." He pulled on her hand to follow him down the narrow space between the door and the junk pile.

"Just what sort of fantasies are you talking about? I thought we took care of that last time."

They turned the corner and Leia's jaw dropped at what she saw in front of her. She stood stock still absorbing the scene, trying to make sense of it. She couldn't have imagined this.


	10. Chapter 10: Kinda Romantic, Isn't It?

Thank you to everyone and I hope you're all feeling romantic today. Since I can only say it here: thank you to the guest reviewers!

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Chapter 10: Kinda Romantic, Isn't it?

The lighting was soft and so were the plethora of pillows that surrounded a low thick mattress with clean blankets. Next to it was a low table with several plates of food that she recognized as a couple of her favorites, perhaps leftovers from their previous dinner. A bottle of wine and napkins rounded out the setting. Han had made them a secret hideaway. A cozy romantic one.

"You've been working long hours worrying about everyone else, Sweetheart. I thought you could use a decent dinner. In here, we can have complete privacy. Even Chewie doesn't know."

Still dumbfounded and trying to process, she looked to him and back to the serene setting before her. "But I thought… don't you…?"

Leaning close, he rumbled into her ear with his hot breath tickling her deliciously, "Want you? Always. There is nothing I love better than being hard and deep inside of you." He kissed the hair near her temple sweetly. "But, I told you, Princess. I want you. That means all of you."

Leia shivered pleasantly, but his words stunned her all the more. Her mind raced trying to absorb his blatant declaration. He couldn't be nice to her. Not like this. It wasn't in the plan. She shouldn't do this. "Han… I don't know about this."

"Well, you gotta eat something." He directed her by the shoulders over to the low table and encouraged her to sit down on one of the large floor pillows. "C'mon. I know you're hungry."

Yes, her stomach had made sure he knew that, but that was when he was in the Command Center collecting her just now. Another disturbing thought crossed her logic breaking her spell. "You made all this before you came to the Command Center. How did you know I would be hungry?"

"How could you not be? You skipped lunch and dinner." He sat down next to her and started filling a plate.

Her mind was racing now, piecing events together. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "That's what you meant before!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You had 3PO spy on me."

Han pointed to himself in wordless denial.

Leia tilted her head, narrowed her eyes in a stare of warning.

He handed her a glass of wine. "Well, I _might_ have seen him earlier and I _might_ have mentioned to let me know if you left for the mess hall, but I don't think that counts as spying on you." He put some of the food on a plate for her. "Why don't we eat before it gets cold?"

Leia cringed inside and wondered how she would defend herself against this… _attention_. Should she fight it? She no longer knew. Probably because her all-day ignored blood sugar level was causing her not to think straight. The food smelled delicious. In spite of herself, the Princess took a bite of food and sipped her wine, relishing in her body's instant satisfaction. Now having sealed the deal with the Dark Side about this, she noticed that he had built a wall with crates made of various solid composites and metal. They were piled in front of the various other junk that was sitting closest to the doorway.

She gestured to his makeshift wall with her glass. "Looks like you went to quite a bit of trouble."

"You like it?" Han looked proud of himself. "Figured it would give us an extra bit of soundproofing. Plus, if Chewie did come in looking for something that mess in front of it would stop him from poking around."

He had taken her privacy provision seriously. She let her eyes wander a bit around the small room. He definitely put a lot of effort into making it comfortable.

Han snapped his fingers. "Almost forgot." He jumped up and walked back around the junk wall. Leia heard soft music begin to float through the room. Solo reappeared and sat down, but said nothing.

"Nice touch," she finally said referring to the music with her eyes firmly averted and feeling ridiculously shy.

Leia kept her attention on her food. The awkwardness she had felt on the way here was gone. Instead, her feelings of infatuation were threatening to bubble back up from the depths where they had been relegated. _Get a grip, Organa_ , she warned herself. This was no time to be going soft on him. Still, he was making an effort to be charming and there was no reason for her not to be amenable.

"Thought it would be more relaxing."

That caused her to look up and be taken aback. Leia had the strongest feeling he had wanted to say 'romantic' instead. So distinct, it was almost tangible. She shook it off. He was probably right. She was putting in too many hours without enough down time.

"I didn't have time to run the controls back here though." His voice had a note of apology, but was more conversational that anything else. "I just set the timer instead, for now."

She nodded and marveled at his determination to keep the civil conversation between them going. It wasn't something they were used to. Their contemptuous relationship had started from the first second they met and adding in their secret sex life that had developed over the years had only upped the contentious blaze between them. 'Civil' and 'conversation' were not words that applied to them on anything other than an ad hoc basis.

Still, it was again hard to ignore the time and effort he put into the small area to make it private and inviting. It wasn't much bigger than his cabin, but it was comfortable.

He refilled her glass. "Everything taste okay? We had a little leftover from the other night. I thought you might appreciate it since it's your favorite."

"Yes, thank you. It's all quite good. It always does seem to taste better the second time."

"That's 'cause the spices have longer to fuse." He moved closer, his voice dropped an octave and slowed, purposefully enticing her. "You know, it's like that with some spices. At first, when everything is being thrown together and they're heated up, it's fiery and intense. But afterwards, when they have time to just sit and blend together." Han's smile seductively tugged up the right corner of his mouth. "That's when their true flavor comes out and that developed complexity is truly tantalizing."

He wasn't talking about the food. It didn't matter. Leia wasn't going to acknowledge it. It's is not where she wanted to take things with him. To do so would mean she was giving in to her underlying emotions. Emotions she was conscientiously ignoring with all of her might. It was enough that she was trying to release her distractive lust for him. She needed to keep her priorities straight where this man was concerned. Her future was with the Rebellion. Solo hadn't left yet, but he hadn't officially joined either. The emotional soup he was currently stirring within her threatened to make her not care if he joined or not, but just that he stayed. Stayed with the Rebellion. Stayed with her.

In an attempt to redirect, she put her napkin on the table. "Actually, I think I'm finished. Thank you."

Han drained the last of his wine and moved the plates to the side before standing up. "Ok, ready for phase two?"

"Phase two?"

He took her hand and she stood up next to him. He pulled her to him, dropping her one hand onto his shoulder and wrapped his arm low around her waist. He swayed them gently in time with the music.

Leia looked up at him in surprise. What was he doing?

"Phase two," he confirmed tenderly. He held her close and leaned his jaw to the side of her head.

She let the song play out, but continued to fight the war with her emotions while it played. Again, Leia was perplexed. She had expected they would be naked and done at this point in the evening. Instead, Solo was making true romantic overtures, steadily threading them throughout tonight.

Just when she had thought she figured out how to not want him in any way shape or form, the charismatic Captain somehow turned it all around on her. Forcing her every hidden emotion to rush at her, conquering her and it was only 'phase two' of whatever he had planned. Han had said that he wanted _all_ of her. Her heart started pounding again at the thought of what he meant by that.

"I don't remember our bet including dancing." Her somewhat stammering voice betrayed her losing battle. She had intended to put an end to this, but she certainly didn't sound the least bit resolute even to her own ears. Worse, once her eyes looked into his, she felt caught.

Han let the weight of their magnetic stare pull him even closer. "It didn't _not_ include it."

"I don't think it's a good idea." She shook her head, but stayed locked into his eyes.

"Why? Don't you like dancing with me?" His voice was rumbling through her and his breathing had noticeably increased matching hers.

"It's not why we're here." She argued in an excited whisper completely captivated by his surrounding presence.

"You're right. It's not." He nodded, but his usual smirk was nowhere to be found.

He closed the space between their lips and kissed her. It was soft, sensual and slower than she had ever been kissed. There was no comparison to their other kisses. The barely-controlled craving rode just underneath the gentle and passionate sweetness of it. Riding the intoxication, Leia trembled in his arms while hoping he couldn't feel it.

When they finally broke for air, it was all Leia could do to stop herself from pursuing more of this new type of hunger between them. Overpowering emotions were rocketing between them again and her ability to fend them off was weakening further than ever before. She would be so relieved when this night was over and she could stop focusing on the sensuousness of his lips on hers.

His breath ragged, Han moved his hands to her shoulders in a concerted effort to stay in control and whispered. "Phase three."

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	11. Chapter 11: Phase 3

Han isn't finished with Leia just yet... as ccp mentioned, Han is going all in!

Chapter 11: Phase 3

Commanding herself to find her self-control again as well, she regained herself from his power for a moment and found her voice. Putting her best effort into sounding as annoyed at the distractive events as possible. "This had better be the last phase. I have a lot of work waiting for me tonight. I have to get back to it."

"Still tense, I see." He pulled her down to the mattress cushions and put a big pillow near the head of it. "We're gonna work on that right now, Sweetheart."

Okay, this she could handle. Enough with the romance, she could refocus on the carnal. Then still have time to hightail it back to her quarters for a quick sonic cleanup and still put in a few more hours of work tonight before pretending to try to sleep.

He guided her to lay face down pillow. She heard hum rubbing his hands together and smelled a pleasant light fragrance.

"What's that scent?"

"Body oil. Lift up your shirt."

She did as she was told and untucked the shirt of her uniform scrunching it halfway up her back.

"Good. Now try to relax." Han's warm hands found her lower back and slowly began to slide them up under her shirt to her shoulders and back down. He began to aimlessly knead her muscles looking for the trigger points. He never asked her to remove her shirt or other clothes, didn't make any comments, just used his strong hands to convince her muscles to drain the tension she was holding in them.

Admittedly, she hadn't felt this good in ages. While he was reloading more oil into his hands, she rolled halfway over and unbuttoned her uniform blouse. Han raised his eyebrows as she discarded her shirt and watched her unfasten her pants and push them down several centimeters. She noticed his larynx bob up and down as if he was very affected by her actions. Odd since he had seen her naked in compromising positions plenty of times now.

"I don't want to get any oil on it by mistake," she said indicating the discarded shirt.

"Whatever makes you more comfortable is fine by me, Sweetheart."

She retook her former position and Han's large warm hands were on her immediately. He began in the same place, the small of her back. His thumbs drew tight circles up along her spine as his fingers were left to glide over her sides. As he reached her scapula muscles, he worked his way down the inverted 'v' allowing his finger to slickly graze over bulbs of her breasts before working back up. Leia was enjoying his soothing touch and the tingle of his fingers along the way.

He smoothed every knot and relaxed each muscle as he went. Leia tried not to moan, but the release was almost as satisfying as an orgasm. She hadn't realized just how tight her body had become.

Finally he reached the ridgeline of her shoulders and involved his fingers more diligently all the way up her neck to her hairline and back down along her spine. She had never had a massage. They had always seemed a bit personal for her taste and overly indulgent somehow when there was so much strife in the galazy and work to be done.

"You're pretty good at this," she murmured into her folded hands.

His hands were at the top of her buttocks working his circles of magic lower and lower eventually lapping up against the top of her loosened pants. Again it was better than she imagined, but she could see she it was time to ditch the uniform altogether. Too bad she hadn't thought to discard her boots before now.

"Hang on," she said as she rolled up to a sitting position.

Again, she noticed that Han watched her in fascination as she pulled off her boots, socks, and stood up to wriggle the rest of the way out of her remaining clothes. A wave of embarrassment overtook her. She felt too naked and he looked too fully-clothed. She thought about it for a second and granted herself permission to take action.

She reached toward him and began unfastening his shirt. "I don't want to be the only one undressed," she explained simply.

"Understandable," he smirked as he held his arms away to give her better access.

She pulled off his shirt and put it to the side. "That's better."

"Not quite." Han picked up his shirt and pulled it over her arms and shoulders, letting it hang open. "Now, we're both half-naked," he said with a big smile, but kept his voice in the low register that Leia found very enticing.

A questioning look crossed her face. He was putting clothes on her? This was different. "But your shirt will get full of oil."

"Worth the sacrifice. It'll keep you warm while I massage your legs. Lie back down."

Han worked his way over her buttocks and down her legs and feet. _I could get used to this_ , was the only thought fluttering through her mind while she concentrated on the feel of his strong warm hands working her muscles.

"Turn over, Princess," Han commanded with a light smack on her bottom.

"Watch your hands, Flyboy," Leia warned.

"Oh, I'm watching them." He smirked. "Trust me."

He reloaded a new puddle of body oil onto his palm as she repositioned herself face up. With her head propped up by the pillow, she could watch him. He smoothed his hands lightly from her ankles to her hips and back down again to spread the oil. Leia closed her eyes at the sensual feel of it all.

She wondered if all this was just some sort of reward for fulfilling his fantasy the other night. If it was, then it was worth it. She didn't really want to think about if it wasn't, but she was finding it very difficult not to. It was impossible not to miss his romantic overtures for what they were.

Leia admired the play of his muscles under his skin as he worked her shins and up to her thighs. Then he made a point to pay attention to her arms working his way down each one. He reached up the sleeve of his shirt that she wore and stroked her from her biceps to her hands. He brought her hands up together up to his mouth for a kiss before releasing them, seemingly enjoying the more relaxed version of Princess Organa.

"You look a little more relaxed."

"I am."

Moving up, Han sat next to her, locking his arm in a frame over her waist He quietly studied her for a minute. She had pulled his shirt mostly closed across her front. A small stream of skin from between her breasts down to her legs was the only things peeking out besides her wrists and hands. Finally, she saw the lust dominate in his eyes for the first time tonight.

He let his fingers slide down the open collar of her shirt. "You know what I'm really good at?"

The air between them felt heavy and with crackles of electricity jousted between them, but his voice had been low and his drawl had been slow. There were so many things sexy about Han Solo when he was trying that she could rarely pin it down. "What?"

"Stress relief."

He used one finger to pull her closer as he lowered his mouth to kiss her. The kiss was slow and soft before it became deep and wanting.

His moist mouth slid gently down her neck, he let his hand smooth softly over her curves cupping one breast and gently playing with her nipple as his mouth traced around the nipple of the other breast. Leia quietly moaned and gripped his hair with her fingers.

She loved the feel of Han's hands and mouth on her. As she plundered her hands through his hair, she could feel it tickle her forearms. The skilled Corellian began to flick her nipple with his tongue and then took it into his mouth to gently suck on it while his hand roamed down in between her legs and stroked her in the same rhythm. "Ha-a-an," she breathed out more than voiced. Her breaths became shorter and her heart pounded harder as he 'mmm-d' with his mouth still on her breast.

He moved his torso on top of her and then worked his way down. He lifted her right leg kissing her on the sensitive area behind her knee and trailing his kisses all along her inner thigh before placing her leg over his shoulder. Placing a longer kiss on her apex, he worked his mouth down along the inner thigh of her left leg until he kissed behind her other knee and put that over his shoulder as well.

With one last smile, he ducked his head down. Han's generous lips formed a sumptuous kiss over her wet folds, licking and sucking until her body began to shake. His long arms and her short torso allowed him to play with her breasts as he worked his mouth over her sensitive spot "mmm-ing' over and over causing vibrations to wash over her. She began to writhe up to match his tempo.

Han could hear a throaty 'yes' float down to him every so often followed by his name. He wrapped his large hands around her lower hips and buttocks. He pulled her pelvis up towards him as he thrust his tongue inside of her feeling her body instantly arch in response.

"Han!" Her head was thrown back, eyes shut tight, heels dug into his sides.

He kept his pace and used his nose to stimulate her on the outside. Feeling her buck and her vagina spasm around his tongue, he let up his intensity and let her ride out her orgasm.

He wiped the excess fluid off of his face and covered her body with his once again. Obviously, quite proud of himself at leaving the Princess in a puddle.

"Feeling more relaxed yet?"

Still breathing hard but finding her voice and control, she quirked an eyebrow up at him. "Almost, Captain."

Han propped himself up against the wall with some pillows behind his back. "I'm all yours, Princess," his deep baritone voice inviting her in husky tones. "If you want me, but it's up to you. This is your night."

He had been so giving to her and asked for nothing in return for his efforts sexual or otherwise. Her emotions were running full tilt, but her orgasm had taken the edge off somewhat. She considered the muscles peeking out of his abdomen and his current offer.

"I'm sorry I hit you so hard." She bent her head and kissed the spot on his stomach where she estimated she'd hit him. She dragged her fingers lightly over the bulge straining beneath his pants. "I guess you could use a rescue of your own right about now."

Solo rewarded her with a gasping moan, his answer forced out. "I can't argue with that."

Undoing his pants and pulling them halfway down his legs, she climbed atop of him and straddled him.

"…as long as it doesn't include jumping down a trash chute." Obviously recovered, he stroked his hands gently along her thighs and gave her his best roguish smile.

"I hate you." Her eyes twinkled in spite of herself as she laid her hands on his muscled chest and let her fingers slip through the hair there and tickle her fingers.

"I know." Moving his hands inside of his open white shirt she wore, he stroked gently up her sides and down over her breasts, stopping to cup them and tease them.

Leia arched her back and leaned toward him just enough for him to let him use his mouth on her as well. Moments later, she lifted and slid back down onto his hardness and began rocking. He was so hard that she could angle him just right so that he was deep within her and it was more soul-satisfying every time she sank down. A wellspring of pleasure gushed up through to the tips of her nerve endings to focus all of her tension to a point below where they were joined together.

Han had his hands splayed across her breasts and had continued to tease her taut nipples with his thumbs increasing her sense of pleasure exponentially as she rode him. Just as she was reaching the top of her climb, Han slid his hands on her hips and used them to help slam himself into her from below over and over.

"So fucking sexy…" his moan was more half-whimper as his body strained against hers.

His words caused her body to react so fast and with such force that all she saw were flashing lights and colors. She cried out in ecstasy at the same time he began to groan and buck in his own orgasm.

Before she climbed off of him, Han made a point to pull her down for a soft kiss murmuring, "You're a goddess." Once she did move off of him, he pulled her back next to his side and covered their sweaty bodies with a light blanket. "Relax, Sweetheart. Just for a little while."

She hated him even more now. She had surrendered herself to him. She was his. Whatever she thought she was prepared for in this game between them was nothing compared to this moment. This was not the plan. This was not supposed to happen.

And she hated him for it.


	12. Chapter 12:Office? What Office?

Some technical difficulties this week and some other stuff, but it's a double long chapter to make up for it. Happy Weekend!

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Chapter 12: Office? What Office?

Solo snapped the lid shut on the casing for the coolant system. He had finished that in record time with Chewie's help. He was in a good mood. A damn good mood. The work on the Falcon had progressed nicely for a change and things with Leia were looking up. He knew he got to her the other night. He had played every romantic card he could think of and bet it all. It had been a serious risk. There was every reason for her not to go for it except that she did.

Nonetheless, it surprised him. She never talked about it, but considering her background and experiences in life, Leia had been around enough men in her time. He was sure of it. Besides Luke's naïve crush, Solo had seen it happen with his own eyes a few times and it incited a riot of jealousy within him. He could only imagine how many admirers tried their luck before he knew her. A stunning woman like her was sure to plenty of attention from all kinds of males. It was one of the reasons he never really thought he ever had a chance with her at all when they first met. While, the spark between them had been unignorable and he had been unstoppably attracted to her from the beginning, it amazed him even today she had been willing to look at him twice.

His Corellian Luck had shined on him again. The haughty-masked Alderaanian Princess was not immune to his charms after all. Solo doubted the nature of their day-to-day interaction would ever be smooth, he had come to see their clothed contentiousness for foreplay that it was.

He was proud of himself for his seductive achievements in his quest for her relaxation and happiness. Not only had she needed it, he relished seeing it happen in front of his eyes. As if it was not only due to his efforts, but a secret side opening up just for him. A very captivatingly alluring side. Watching her sigh in bliss as her muscles relaxed under his fingers, her personality turn softer as she shed her public persona and gave him a glimpse of her private self. He fell for her all over again.

Solo smiled thinking of her nuanced manner when she said she hated him. It told him everything he needed to know. She was surrendering her emotions. No doubt about it. He won the battle that night with her and was on the way to winning the war.

The Princess wasn't the only one losing his control over emotions. He couldn't stop obsessing about her. Since then, Chewie had been a bucket of cold water reminding him of the Falcon's immediate needs and even Luke had wandered over to lend a hand yesterday knowing their crunched timeline. With Skywalker's help, they were now on target for liftoff. _Time for a break._

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Leia had not stayed with him that night. It wasn't more than a few minutes before she was up dressed and striding purposefully back to her quarters. She had cleaned up and put on a fresh uniform and tried not to think. Not about Han and not about a relationship with Han.

She had been trying not to think for the last two of days now. Trying. Mostly, she was succeeding, but there was a fair amount of failing within that success. Thankfully, Solo had not come into her orbit or she would have been failing much more.

Luke had told her that Chewie and Han were working feverishly all day yesterday and night trying to prep the Falcon for Ord Mantell and for Hoth where they would be landing after the mission. She hadn't seen Solo in passing today either. Not that she would unless she left the Command Center or he came looking for her like the other night. It didn't help she spent time every hour wishing he would turn up and saddened that he had not.

The Alliance needed all of her focus now more than ever and she couldn't stop herself from thinking about him. Crews were already on Hoth and carving out the base. Another large group was scheduled to leave in less than a standard week. It would be a logistical nightmare to run two bases so far apart, but it had to be done.

Leia sat in the meeting room listening to the Generals and the other two members of the High Council on base going through their roundup of various issues and planning the move. As much as she was trying to pay attention to the information being discussed, her mind was elsewhere. Specifically, it was back in the Millennium Falcon's Captain's cabin.

Hopefully, she was keeping her face and demeanor appearing interested and alert to what was going on in front of her while visions of Han danced through her mind making her heart beat faster and her lower regions remind her of what it felt like to be with him. Leia mused how it aroused her when he spoke erotically to her and about her. It stroked chords of desire in her, making her feel wanted, craved, and necessary as air to him. It still shocked her how much she enjoyed it. Then again, it astonished her how much she wanted to be craved by him like that.

She was in a love/hate relationship with Han Solo and he had no idea. More accurately, she had no idea what he knew and what he didn't. On certain levels, she had meant it when she told him she hated him. Although it had come out playfully sarcastic, Leia thought Han might have understood the undertones of it at the time. The one exception was that it also meant she loved him. Did he know?

Being so swept up in their arousal, she wasn't fully aware of it at the time. It wasn't until after while he was holding her that she fully understood. That evening had started out with her feeling aggravated at the idea of being with him. She couldn't have known he make that sort of effort just to make her feel good. It amazed her enough to let her guard down just long enough for it all to happen. She had never felt like that. She never knew she could.

Up to that point, her clarity was meager in comparison. She had come to understand the more she tried to ignore her deep emotions using sex to release the lust, the more the sexual tension had built up. Trying to take all of the taboos away from had not helped either, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. It invigorated Solo's pursuit of a true relationship between them. None of it mattered because thinking she could outsmart it had brought her here and left her a lovesick mess. Now, she just ached to be near him. It was never far from her mind that he would leave. He wasn't a part of them the way she needed him to be. He would never consent. She had tried so many times, she was nearly out of breath on it. But these feelings, this hate, this love, could not be simply ignored. It had to find the surface. _Time for a new plan._

She would truly let go like he originally asked and let it play itself out. They had been burning bright for some time, if she went all in without trying to hold back, there was still a chance it would fizzle. It wasn't as if he asked her to confess her feelings for him. She still didn't have to act on them. So she would take this where he wanted it to go and she would see it for what it was. Meanwhile, she would figure out a way to shorten the timeline. That would be good.

The center of her thoughts strode into the meeting and directly over to her. Her eyes went wide momentarily as her heart skipped a beat, but the rest of her froze. Aching or not, this was not the time for this.

"There's something urgent you need to take care of," he leaned down and whispered.

"Now?" She whispered back clearly not happy with his timing as he nodded. Her whisper became more irritated, "Seriously, Solo-"

Han pulled on her chair encouraging her to get up as he turned to address the rest of the meeting attendees. "Uh, sorry to interrupt. Something suddenly came up."

General Steaquis on the holo seemed most displeased. "We're in a meeting, Captain Solo. Either it can wait or someone else can take care of whatever it is."

Han smiled with mock regret. He never did like that guy. "'Fraid not. This needs the Princess's direct personal attention immediately."

Leia looked toward the others at the table as she stood up. "Excuse me everyone. I do have to deal with this." She threw a meaningful look at Solo, and smiled sarcastically. "But it shouldn't take long."

Han obviously understood her slight and looked a bit offended. He picked up her datapad and made a point of handing it to her. "Actually, Princess, this is going to take longer than you think."

Without another word, both of them headed out of the door and down the hall.

"The Falcon?" She said in a businesslike manner of efficiency.

"Where's your office?"

"I don't have one." Her tone was clipped, obviously not happy with his insolence back there.

"Where is it, Princess?" He asked again stepping closer to her. It's probably where she had been hiding out from him before the other night. It half-surprised him that he didn't already know. Normally, it was one of the first things he made a point to find on each base. Then again, when they had arrived here, he was still in the mode of trying to convince himself that he was leaving. So, not knowing where her office was left out the temptation to pursue her. Or so he thought.

"I don't have one." Leia walked toward the hanger and insisted on sticking to her story.

As they came to a juncture, he stepped in front of her and stared her down with hands on hips and eyebrows raised expectantly. Han guessed she was probably afraid of getting caught. To him that just upped the ante.

She cradled her datapad to her chest and returned his stare. Seeing he wasn't budging, it wasn't long before she confessed. "I don't ever use it."

"Then let's go break it in." Han's smile crept up his face with wicked intent. This was gonna be fun.

She looked around for anyone within earshot. "Wouldn't you rather go back to the Falcon?"

Knowing he was going to pay for this stunt, he moved to stand behind her. Chastely, he laid his hands on top of her shoulders as if to direct her and leaned down to whisper in her ear surreptitiously. He kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear knowing nobody could see him do it. "I can't wait to go anywhere else. I want you now, Leia."

He felt the aroused shiver as it waved through her body. He knew that particular spot was very sensitive to his Solo brand of magic. It had worked every time so far.

Leia took a breath and stared straight ahead as if nothing was amiss. "We take a right from here, third door on the left."

Han smiled to himself triumphantly. _Every… time…_

Solo managed to keep his hands off of her until the door closed behind them. As soon as she turned around, he was on her in an instant. He pushed her up against the door and kissed her long and deep. Her datapad fell to the floor with an echoing clang breaking the screen and the kiss.

Leia looked at him angrily. "You're paying for that!"

"Better start a tab. I'm gonna be breaking a lot more." He nodded toward the desk.

"Captain, don't you dare!"

He spun her. "You know what happens when you call me that, Sweetheart."

Again, he claimed her mouth picking her up and crushing her to him in an all-consuming kiss as he did the night before. She was going to be thoroughly versed in all of his skills before this adventurous bet of theirs was through.

By the time they were standing next to the desk, Leia was already breathless. However, she managed to put a hand up between them and separate from him.

"Let me clean this off before you break something important."

Solo could tell she had spent significant time in her office after all as evidenced by the desk full of various items. She grabbed a few other things and walked them over to the corner of the room leaning down to put them on the floor. Han picked up the last couple of things and followed her, never taking his eyes off of her posterior.

"Sure. Gives me time to admire the view."

She stood up, leaned a hand on her hip and smirked. "The least you could do is return the favor, Flyboy."

He winked at her before bending over slowly. "I always knew you couldn't keep your eyes off my rear view."

She stepped up behind him and caressed his buttocks as he stood up and then wrapped her hands around to his groin. "Your front's not so bad either."

He reached back with his long arms, splayed his hands over the curve of her buttocks and he let her wind her hands up his chest and back down again enjoying the feel her breasts pressed against his back.

"This is good, but I want more." He turned in her arms and pulled her close. Reaching up to take her face in his hands, he kissed her gently for a moment and pulled back to look into her eyes.

"Leia, I want you tonight."

Puzzled, she smiled up at him. "You haven't even had me now and you already want me tonight?"

He gently stroked his thumbs along the wisps of hair in front of her ears simultaneously causing the Princess to close her eyes from the indulgent tenderness. He followed with a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Yes." Then planting gentle kisses down her nose and finally on her mouth. "I want you to stay with me tonight." He kissed her earlobe and gently darted his tongue into her ear for a moment before whispering, "All night. I want to hold you."

Again she visibly shivered from his actions, but she didn't open her eyes or move. "That's not part of the deal, Haa-nn-"

Her voice gave out to a low moan as he worked his wet mouth down her neck. He wanted her. All of her. It wasn't the first time he told her. He knew his best bet was to continue showing how great it could be between them if there were more than just sex. He would take her now to satisfy his craving built up from daydreaming about her and then he would make love to her tonight, hold her, be sweet to her. Show her the love his heart ached to give her. After his seduction of the Princess the other night, but his gut told him that she felt the same way he did, but he knew her inclination was to hide from her feelings. She needed more from him and he planned on playing the part of her romantic lover to the hilt. This was a very real game for him and wasn't used to losing.

"Is that a 'yes'? He swished his lips gently back and forth along the other side of her neck lingering in the spot that he knew was extra sensitive. Unlike the passageway, he took his time knowing they were hidden away from prying eyes.

Leia gripped his torso for support as gasp of pleasure escaped, then pushed him off her slightly so she could speak. "Fine, but you don't get to use that little maneuver against me again and this bet ends on the last day of the Ord Mantell mission. Got it?"

"What?!" He stopped and froze in place. They were scheduled to leave in a standard week!

"You heard me."

"Why do you think you can just change the terms like that, Your Worship?"

"For starters, you breaking into a top level meeting…" She paused and looked pointedly at him. "… _again.._." Leia crossed her arms determinedly. "… was never part of the deal."

"You did agree to whenever." He had a bad feeling about this. He was going to have a hard time wiggling out of that one unless he thought fast.

She pointed at him accusingly. "And you agreed to complete discretion."

He looked offended. "I was discrete!"

Leia glared at his ability to say that with a straight face. "'Something suddenly came up needing my personal and immediate attention'?" She shook her head in anger. "They're probably still talking about it right now. You could've waited a few more minutes and spared me the embarrassment along with that stunt in the passage."

"Look, it got you out of there, didn't it? Don't play High and Mighty with me, Your Highnessness. I saw you through the door. You looked like you were a million parsecs away." He leaned closer in challenge. "I bet you were thinking about me, weren't ya'?"

"Your arrogance isn't helping your argument, Flyboy."

Solo watched her set her mouth into a grim line. She wasn't going to back down without a major fight which would threaten everything they had built so far. He had to stop this freefall and he had to stop it fast.

"Ok, you win. The bet ends on the last day of Ord Mantell, but I'm only agreeing if you stay with me overnight tonight and you admit that you liked it that I showed up and pulled you out of the meeting."

Solo watched her thinking it over and swore he felt her mollifying, but could tell she didn't want to give in so easily. It's not like he was happy with the new arrangement, but it had to mean he was hitting close to the mark to make her so desperate for reasons to stop the bet early. Even if the bet ended, it didn't mean they had to end, just the bet. There was still hope they would reach a certain level where she would want to be with him without the cover of the bet.

He gently stroked his hands down her shoulders to her elbows, coaxing her arms to uncross. He picked up her hands and kissed each one in turn. "C'mon, you know I'll make it worth your while."

A light blush of embarrassment graced her features. "I'll stay with you tonight."

Han pulled her closer and squeezed her encouragingly. "And?"

"And… I'm glad you showed up to pull me out of the meeting."

"Good." He started ran his hands up and down her body and began undoing the fasteners. "How soundproof do you think this place is?

"Why?" Leia suddenly looked nervous at being reminded that the Command Center was not far down the hallway and it was a hallway that was relatively well-traversed.

Han said nothing this time. He just kissed her deeply until they were both breathing hard. He crushed her even closer and spoke brokenly as they repeatedly sought out one another's lips, "Thinking about - got me – so hard. Had to - have you, Princess."

He sat her on the desk and her arms naturally locked behind her to hold herself up. He stepped in between her legs and unfastened her shirt pulling the halves of it to her sides, his eyes gleaming as her breasts burst out. Using one hand to hold her, he encouraged her to arch her back up toward him as he leaned over taking a breast into his other hand. Gently massaging to fullness of her breast, he licked a small wet circled around her nipple before slicking his tongue directly over it.

Leia wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer luxuriating in the attention. Then he pulled away ever so slightly, pursed his lips and blew on it, delighting in the instant hardening. Immediately afterwards covering the aroused tip with his generous soft lips and sucking while his tongue flicked over it back and forth.

With a moan, Leia was compelled to grab his head and keep it in place. "Don't stop."

A few long more moments of attention and he pulled his head up on his way to her other breast.

"Mmm, you like that? Just wait. I've been hungry for you all day."

"No… later…you can do whatever you want." She managed to whisper huskily as she pushed to sit up and grabbed at his blaster rig. "I don't want to wait."

She had it off in seconds as he teased her ears with his tongue and kept whispering dirty little nothings into them. Next came his pants, she quickly pulled them open and unleashed his erection. She stroked him a few times almost doubling him over for a moment.

His entire face animated in his aching want for her. "I love your hands on me, Princess."

He pulled her head to his mouth and invaded it with his tongue, kissing her hard. She moved her hands up to his shirt and pulled it open, spreading her hands over his shoulders and chest.

Han pulled her hips to the edge of the desk, pulled her legs up to his shoulders and entered her in one swift stroke, causing both of them to lose their breath. He loved the pleasure lighting her face and it increased his desire, making it his thoughts raw and hungry. "You like it when I fill up your hot wet little royal cunt?"

Her head fell back. "Yes…"

He began to thrust. "All I can think about is you… wearing my shirt… oil all over you… my hands on you… you know how much I want you?"

She opened her eyes and held onto his neck. "Tell me."

Just that simple command made him want to come. Instead he laid her back on the desk pushing her to the middle and climbing on in between her bent knees. His voice was a low growl, animalistic. His eyes were dark and wild. "I want to fuck you every hour of the day. Just thinking about you makes me hard." He re-entered her and they both felt a fresh round of jolts throughout their bodies. "You feel so incredible I have to fight not to come as soon as I'm inside of you."

Leia was breathing harder than ever and her moaning was growing louder, but Han was not about to back off. He continued to grind into her the pleasure blasting through his veins with every thrust. He covered her mouth with his hand as her orgasm became noticeable.

Finally realizing she was moaning into his palm, her eyes widened at the realization. She gripped his shoulder and mumbled his name into his hand.

He took his hand away. "Door's unlocked."

"Don't care." She thrust up into him encouraging him. "Don't you dare stop."

"Never…" was all he could get out before his thrusts were out of control and he bucked crazily into her.

A few minutes later, they stood face to face assessing one another. Han refastened her uniform blouse after noticing it was out of kilter. She made a pretense at swiping his unruly hair back into some semblance of order. It was strangely affectionate and the oddness wasn't lost on either them.

Once put back together enough to be presentable in public, Han popped a quick kiss on her forehead and tapped a finger under her chin. "Remember, Sweetheart, tonight your mine."


	13. Chapter 13: What're You Lookin' At?

Here's something I hope you all find interesting. :D

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Chapter 13: What Are You Looking At?

General Rieekan approached the Princess who was deep in thought at her computer screen in the Command Center.

"Princess?"

Leia shook with a slight start not realizing anyone had come up behind her. Her thoughts had wandered onto her overnight stay with Solo the other night. "Yes, General?"

"I was just checking over your upcoming mission to Ord Mantell. Is Captain Solo still slated to be part of the mission?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes. Is there a problem?"

"A scheduling one, perhaps. He's on the patrol roster for that timeframe. He volunteered to fill the gap after we lost Cpl. Deniton a couple of weeks ago."

Leia looked surprised because she was. "I wasn't aware Captain Solo hadn't offered his services for that."

"Volunteered, actually. With our people split up trying to set up the base on Hoth, it hasn't left us with anyone extra. If he hadn't stepped in, we would've been forced to have extended the patrol times for the others."

She nodded knowingly and sighed. "They're already pushed to the limit as it is." She secretly thanked Han for being there for them and for her - again. "He's been a great help to us, hasn't he, General?"

"Indeed. He has a habit of doing that, Princess."

Leia ignored that last bit as he mind raced for solutions. "Perhaps Chewbacca would be willing to cover for Han during the mission."

"That would work. Can Chewbacca be spared from the mission? And do you think would he be willing to take Solo's place?"

"I'm sure something can be arranged."

"I'll contact the Deck Officer about the possible change."

"I'll handle it, General. You have enough on your plate. Our patrols aren't the only ones overworked around here."

"I could say the same of you, Princess." He said meaningfully.

"We must not let up in our pressure to defeat the Empire."

"It's okay to take a breath here and there, Princess. Recharge."

"Once we're at full strength on Hoth, we'll all have a bit more time to take a breath." She left the Command Center with Rieekan's advice to recharge and take a breath on her mind. It was rather serendipitous considering her the night she spent with Han just a couple of days ago.

He had made a major impression on her. He had done nothing except hold her. Nothing. She showed up late and was prepared for whatever he would throw at her and all he did was curl up with her in his bunk, kiss her goodnight, and go to sleep.

A bad dream had shaken her awake. It woke him as well. Han had groggily wrapped his arm around her and pull her back down into his embrace with a murmured reassurance that he had her and she was safe. Indeed, she had felt safe… and warm. In fact, she had felt completely cozy. Cozy was a rare occurrence in her world in the last few years. Cozy felt nice. She didn't remember falling back asleep, but she did remember waking up the next morning.

Solo had addressed the lack of sexual interaction the night before and encouraged her to initiate if the mood struck her. He flashed her that infamous smirk that sometimes hid his deep insecurities and cracked, "You know, just 'cause I won the bet, doesn't mean you can't take advantage of me if you had the urge to, Sweetheart."

The Princess had never considered herself timid in any sense of the word. In fact, it was a source of pride to her. Yet, that morning, she realized that as adventurous as she had been sexually with Han, she had never really been the instigator except perhaps that very first time a couple of years ago. And that time, Han had taken over pretty quickly.

Now that she had decided to truly let go over the remaining time of the bet, she thought he might actually be right. Until then, he had always been the one to decide when, where and even how. Maybe she should take full advantage of him at some point before the bet was over. He was obviously looking for her to make a move.

Still, even knowing he would welcome her advance, it was new territory for her. Admonishing that as a nonsensical reason for her not doing it, she resolved to be open to the opportunity should the whim strike her, at least for the duration of the bet.

She had never been a wilting damsel waiting for a man to court her. While she had been to systems where that held true, it wasn't that way on Alderaan. Right now, she was thanking the Force or more likely, the ruling ancestors of Alderaan for that. Alderaan was not a close-minded strict society. It had been a galaxy leader in the arts and sciences for as long as anyone could remember. It revered peace and equality for all beings and all cultures. It was precisely why she had flourished by such a young age. There was no way she could've accomplished what she had in her life otherwise. Bail and Breha had encouraged her at every turn reminding her that as the leading family, they all should strive to be the embodiment of Alderaan's ideals showing every citizen and off-worlder alike the true heart of Alderaan.

Leia chuckled to herself. She never thought how she would be applying those tenets to her private life as an adult, but it was a natural extension of what she had been taught.

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Princess Leia strode into the hanger and noticed a distinct change in the humidity. The air was so thick that everything metal had a cold sweat to it. She immediately found the Deck Officer on duty and was talking to him about a possible change in the duty roster where Solo was concerned when over the Deck Officer's shoulder, she spied the Captain walking over the top hull of the Falcon carrying a toolbox. He wore his usual Bloodstriped trousers and boots, but had only a sweat-soaked t-shirt on top instead of his usual long-sleeved shirt and jacket.

"Why is it extra humid in here?" She asked without fully taking her attention off of Solo, but trying to still appear focused on the person in front of her. Leia watched covertly as Solo wiped his brow with his forearm and took a drink from a bottle of what she presumed was water.

"The air control units for the entire hanger went out this morning and we're having trouble getting them back to their usual operation levels. We expect to have it normalized by tomorrow morning."

"I guess we'll have to sweat it out until then. Thank the Force that the rest of the base wasn't affect…-ed." Leia nearly lost her focus entirely as Solo put the bottle down and proceeded to lift his shirt up and over his head before wiping his face with it before tossing it aside. She actually fought to keep her mouth from dropping open at the sight of his glistening torso outlined by his strong shoulders and defined midsection. His arms were distracting enough in the t-shirt, but now she wasn't thinking with her head. She was thinking of finding a way to work in some private time in her continual effort to pay her debt to him. Maybe Rieekan was right about taking a breath to recharge.

"I'll have the changes sent to you when it's confirmed," she said bringing her full attention including her eyes back to the Deck Officer momentarily. "Thank you, Major."

Leia strode over to the Falcon with her best business demeanor. It wouldn't do if she were the one to break the complete discretion rule she had imposed in the first place. Once she reached the edge of the hull closest to where he was bent over on his hands and knees working, she only took a quick moment to admire his behind. Just long enough to put it into her memory banks, but not so long as to be thought of as staring by anyone.

"Captain Solo!" She yelled up to him, but there was no response. Leia looked around for Chewie. She didn't like drawing attention to herself like this, but without the Wookiee to call to Solo, she had no choice. He was probably irritated with her formality of address. It was all fine and good when they were having sex, but she knew it irked him at other times. "Han!"

Finally, she saw him stop and straighten up. At least she had an excuse to watch the play of his muscles in his bare back and the sheen of sweat along his hairline dampening it the same way as their sexual antics did.

He turned in her direction with his crooked grin already in place and his voice a full lilting Corellian tease. "Somethin' I can do for ya', Sweetheart?"

Leia's irritation level was beginning to rise and it wasn't just the high humidity making her uncomfortable. He obviously knew the likely effect he was having on her and he was calling her on it right here out in the open just to be difficult. He knew she wouldn't dare respond positively to it, but it was a challenge nonetheless.

"Is Chewie here? I need to speak with him." Two can play at this game. She knew she could throw as much cold on the heat he was throwing as need be. She had to do it. They were in public.

"He's inside getting a cold drink. The humidity is taking a toll on him."

"I'm sure. It's taking a toll on everyone in here."

Solo acrobatically jumped down next to her and grinned mischievously again. Only somewhat more subdued, his voice was still invitingly loud enough to encourage eavesdropping adding to her annoyance, "My guess is some more than others. Right, Princess?"

She rolled her eyes with a huff at his pointed leer and turned away to head for the ramp when she noticed Han following her. She could parry to this thrust just as well and he knew it. She stopped in mid-stride and raised her voice to the same level his had been. "Where do you think you're going?"

"It's _my_ ship, Your Worship!" He pointed to his torso with his thumb. "I don't need a reason to go aboard it."

"If you don't mind, _Captain_. I should like to speak to Chewbacca alone," she insisted self-righteously. That ought to throw him for a turn. She told herself he deserved it for leering at her like that in public. For all she knew, he had been fully aware that she had been looking over at him and had pulled off his shirt in that particular way just to entice her. It had to be all his fault. It usually was when certain female body parts in her lower region jolted like that.

Han made a show of swinging around to check out their immediate area. "I don't see that Shiny Gold Metal Shadow of yours. You're gonna need me to translate." He leveled his gaze with hers. "Unless you've suddenly significantly increased your understanding of Shyriiwook?"

"Fine. I suppose you could be useful." She began walking up the ramp.

"'Useful?' Is that all I am to you? Like a droid?" He followed her not letting up one bit.

She stopped at the doorway of the hatch to turn around and flashed him a smile. "More like a tool."

A few more steps and they were safely inside the confines of the Falcon. Han leaned down to quietly whisper in her ear as he passed her. "I'll be happy to let you use my tool anytime, Sweetheart." Then called out, "Chewie?! Her Most Royalness wants to talk to you!"

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	14. Chapter 14:Heating Up In Cargo Bay3

ok, back to Cargo Bay #3 and another reminded shout out to Arrallute for her permission to use the idea of naming it Cargo Bay #3

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Chapter 14: Heating Up in Cargo Bay #3

They did find Chewie in the galley drinking an extra-large cup of cold water. He growled a greeting to the Princess and then followed an interrogative bark.

"Actually, I need to speak with both of you. It's about the mission to Ord Mantell."

Han poured himself and Leia a cup of cold water and then leaned against the counter. "What's up?

"As you both know, the base personnel is split because of the construction of the base on Hoth."

Han chuckled and gestured to the Wookiee. "Not gonna have to worry about the heat or the humidity on that iceball, Pal."

"We can't afford to pull anyone off of that project and we can't afford to postpone Ord Mantell, either."

"So what's that got to do with us?" Han asked before taking a long swig of water.

Leia was again momentarily mesmerized by the movements of his throat and the rest of Han's half-naked body. "You're one the scheduled rotation of patrols for this base during the same time as the mission." She turned her attention to the Wookiee. "Those patrols are over-extended as it is. Chewie, I was hoping maybe you would be willing to stay here and cover Han's patrol shifts?"

Chewie looked at Han. Leia knew he wouldn't want to leave Han on the mission. Ord Mantell wasn't the easiest of systems.

Han looked to his co-pilot. Years of being partners had given them the ability to have instant conversations without much more than a look, but Han reassured him vocally anyway, "We'll be fine. I can take care of myself and her."

"I would rather you come with us, Chewie, but this is a desperate situation."

Chewie growled a warning to Han.

"I promise. Ok?"

Chewie nodded his acceptance and a few other things.

"He says he'll do it and he would be happy to help." Chewie growled again gesturing to Leia. Han rolled his eyes and grudgingly translated, "Because I promised to stick to the mission and nothing extra."

"Thank you, Chewie." Leia gave Chewie a quick hug. Very quick because with this humidity, his fur was rather uncomfortable to touch. "Would you do me a favor and go tell the Deck Officer that you'll be taking Han's slots?"

Chewie nodded and said something else.

"He says he's going to go the mess hall after that and cool off for a bit. Take your time."

"Chewie, why don't you find one of the empty bunks in the quarters and sleep there tonight? The air controls aren't supposed to be working until morning." Leia suggested.

Han's ears perked up. "What about me? Don't I get an invitation?"

"You're certainly welcome to join him if you wish, but you and I have a few mission details to go over first and it's better to do it here without anyone on base being able to hear. Now that Chewie won't be with us, we'll need to make a few adjustments."

"Yeah, I guess we will. You can start by clearing out the cargo bay."

"What?"

"Well, I'm not gonna make Chewie do it." He gestured in the direction of the Wookiee. "He's not even going."

Leia couldn't believe Han was serious. He wasn't just secretly telling her that he wanted her. "Fine, but you're doing it with me. This is your ship and I'm not going to be responsible for cleaning it up."

Chewie just chuckled and waved goodbye.

The main hatch cycled shut. Han walked out of the galley with the Princess not far behind and engaged the lock not wanting any surprise visitors.

"Let me just get a fresh shirt and I'll be right there."

He walked past her, but she caught her finger in his waistband to stop his motion. She couldn't believe her wasn't making a play at her. He all but started it with his little show on the Falcon's hull and suddenly he was all business? Maybe he was waiting for her to make a move. Well, she could do that.

"You don't need a fresh shirt."

"I don't?"

"I definitely prefer you shirtless."

Han's eyebrow quirked up followed by his grin. He was catching on. "Oh, so you did like what you saw."

Leia glared at him for just a moment. "You knew I was watching?"

"I know you like looking at me, Sweetheart. Most women do."

The Princess released her finger and turned to leave. "I think you overestimate my interest, Hotshot."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, crushing her against the hard defined planes of his chest and stomach that she had been admiring until she was not only hot, but bothered.

"You sure about that?" His eyes beckoned her as much as the seductive tones of his voice.

"Yes," she affirmed, but it was a definite challenge.

"Liar. Your eyes give you away."

"That's your delusion."

"My delusion? Really?"

"You heard me."

She made no move to stop him as Han's hand moved to the front of her uniform pants. He quickly dispatched the fastenings and smoothed his palm down along her skin. Once he was low enough, his fingers found what he had been searching for and his self-satisfied smirk slanted up the right side of his mouth.

"I suppose that's my imagination, too?"

She still glared at him, but her voice had become husky with arousal. "Shut up."

He pulled his hand out of her pants and held up his two moistened fingers. He slid one into his mouth and his eyebrows rose. "Tastes damn good for a dream. Here, try." He gently swiped his other finger along her parted lips.

He ducked his head down to hers, gently licking her lips as he brushed his mouth over hers. A moment later, he was walking her backward towards Cargo Bay #3 undressing her as they went.


	15. Chapter 15: What's It Gonna Be, Solo?

I'm going to do something that is a personal pet peeve of mine and thank all of you at once for the reviews for the last chapter - THANK YOU! This past week has left me particularly overwhelmed in Darth Real Life. As many of you know, I like to drop you a note thanking you for your review. I didn't get to answer any reviews this past chapter as of yet and I'm very sorry. You know how grateful I am when you take the time to leave me a review. I think it's only right to take the time to thank you for it. So, forgive me for this last round and know I appreciated every one of them. I _know_ I have the best readers around and I'm proud of that. :D

Onward and upward to the fun stuff...

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Chapter 15: What's It Gonna Be, Solo?

If anyone was in a dreamworld, it was Princess Leia Organa. She stretched luxuriously as she rolled contentedly away from an already snoring Solo. He did have a way of satisfying her every lustful itch. Allowing her eyes to wander languorously over his magnificent body, she wondered again how it ever came to this.

In her secret world, she was happy, but there was that nagging part of her that was stuck in despair. While Han had given her a strong connection to life after Alderaan, it was not going to last and she was well aware of it.

Maybe it was the reason she had searched him out this time. Let herself be taken and enjoyed how much he seemed to desire her the same way she desired him.

Publicly, she lobbied him more than ever for his official recruitment, hoping to seal the idea of him staying. Although true to his word on discretion regarding their private bet, Solo was so transparent to everyone in his willingness to do anything for the Alderaanian Princess that it was surprising this was the one thing he would not bend on. His overprotectiveness of her and his consistent willingness to risk his life for her and her Rebellion was strong and very clear. He was a part of it in every way except officially and permanently. She wondered if he was holding back to just irk her or if that debt he kept citing was worse than he was letting on.

The idea that something out of her control was going to take him away from her was more than she wanted to think about.

In fact, Solo had mentioned something to Chewie about not having to sweat on Hoth. The subject of Hoth hadn't really come up between them in private and he hadn't mentioned anything about following the Rebels there. She had hoped, of course, but maybe now with that positive hint, she would be brave enough to bring it up to him.

She would have to be careful how she broached it. They still hadn't developed much in the civil conversation department.

Solo's snoring abruptly ceased and his eyes popped open. He ran a hand along her still sweat-soaked naked form. "I thought you'd be in the fresher by now."

"Just catching my breath."

"Can't blame you."

"It is pretty humid. Even in here," she remarked casually trying to set up an opening.

"Yeah." He quieted again for a few long breaths before finding his voice again and sounding a little uncomfortable. "That was nice… what you did for Chewie."

"What I did for _Chewie_?" Her tone was incredulous. "What about me staying here with _you_?"

"Oh that?"

"Yes. That." He was beginning to irritate her.

He chuckled. "Whatever that was, it wasn't 'nice,' Sweetheart." He stroked down her body again and smiled wickedly. "Hot. Sexy. Exciting. But 'nice' is not the word."

Now was her chance. If she were going to bring it up, this was the time. She sat partially up onto her side, bending her elbow and resting her head on her hand. "Speaking of Chewie and humidity… did you mean what you said to him before?"

"About what?" Han bent his elbow and leaned his head onto his hand mimicking her stance.

"About him not having to sweat on Hoth."

Dawning fell across his features, but he kept his tone light. "Of course, you know Hoth is one big iceball. Not even a Wookiee can feel warm outside there."

Gorgeous or not, he was the most frustrating man she had ever known. He knew what she was getting at, so she didn't understand why he was being so stubborn. Unless… unless he was not actually intending to go to Hoth. There would be nothing holding him here, after all. Even their bet was coming to an end. It would be finished during their mission to Ord Mantell. Her heart sank. Suddenly, the idea of asking him became even more daunting.

Nevertheless, Leia pushed forward bravely. "So, you're planning on going there?"

"Don't see how I can avoid it, Sweetheart." He smirked. "The changeover is due to happen just after we leave for Ord Mantell, right? Unless you're planning on leading a bunch of trees here instead of Rebels, coming back here wouldn't make sense."

"That's not what I meant," she said quietly, crestfallen but hiding it. Those were already part of the mission parameters. His game playing was enough to tell her that he was evading the answer for a reason. She started wondering why she should care. She may care about him on a deep level, but certainly this isn't the kind of man she needed. Sure his ability to incite her ire had a way of inciting her desire, but this bad boy needed to be more of a nice man if she were to be able to consider any sort of real future between them. The private war between her and her feelings continued to wage on. She wanted him in her life and was beginning to take her deep emotions seriously, but she had nowhere reliable outside of herself to put them. Han couldn't even be counted on to stay, let alone give her the emotional commitment she had begun yearning for from him.

Han must've read her mood change even though nobody else would've been able to detect it. It was a fair guess that spending a lot of intimate time together made him very sensitive to her moods and feelings, expertly hidden or not.

He ran a hand through his sweat-dampened hair and sighed. "Hey." He reached out and took her hand off of the hip where it had been resting. He stroked his thumb across her knuckles encouraging her to bring her eyes back to meet his. "I haven't talked to Chewie about it yet, so it's not a done deal, okay? But… I'm planning on sticking around. At some point, I'm going to have to go take care of my debt, but it can wait. Who knows? Maybe I can figure something out about that in the meantime, too."

Leia couldn't believe her ears. It was as close to any type of true allegiance that she had ever heard from him. It wasn't everything she had always said she wanted from him, but it did mean he was staying and that was her selfish private hope. Her heart began beating hard and she could barely contain her silly smile.

Han laced his fingers with the hand he had been holding and pushed her over onto her back. He nestled his hips between her legs and stretched both of her hands above her head. Their bodies responded instantly to feeling the length of each other.

Leveling his eyes with hers, he whispered in his deep intoxicating voice, "Happy?"

Her voice wasn't yet to be trusted, but she knew her eyes glittered for him.

His lips met hers. Gentle, but passionate. Wanting and needful. His hardness met her softness and he slipped inside of her with a gratified sigh.

"Yes," she whispered finally from the depths as she arched up to meet him, matching his heavy breaths. They continued like that. No games this time. He was making love to her. The energy between them was different, profoundly intimate and bonding. She found she wanted this, wanted him like never before. There was some untouchable piece of her melding with some untouchable piece of him.

"Leia…" He kissed her over and over, her mouth, neck, and ears. Still holding her hands above her head, he used one of his hands to caress down her body. Then he moved his hand down between them and fluttered it as he thrust into her.

She couldn't contain her excitement nor did she try. She pulsed up to him enjoying the friction of her breasts against his strong chest and the hair there. She was at the height of relishing the feel of their bodies and the way they fit together when her orgasm made her body buck into him spasmodically and her moans reached their most urgent.

Han's body responded to hers by driving harder for a few more thrusts and bucking into her as he rode through his release with one long deep guttural groan.

Finally letting go of her hands, he collapsed down on her, truly spent this time. She stroked his back trailing her fingers through the dewiness.

When he hadn't moved and she was struggling for breath from the dead weight, she patted his back. "Hey, Hotshot. I could use some air under here."

"Sorry, about that, Sweetheart." He extricated himself from her and fell off to his back. He lazily brought her palm to his mouth for a quick kiss.

"Now I'm _definitely_ ready for a shower." Leia smirked as she rolled to the 'cooler' part of the mattress.

"Me, too. This humidity and demanding royalty is taking a lot outta me. It was a nice bonus though."

"That it was."

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	16. Chapter 16: Your Move, Princess

Ok, here we go! I hope you all enjoy it?

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Chapter 16: Your Move, Princess

Leia packed the last bits and pieces for the mission to Ord Mantell. They were leaving in a few hours and she still had a lot to do. She wouldn't be issued any cold gear until they had arrived back from the mission, so there wasn't much she was taking with her to Ord Mantell.

Han's proclamation of staying indefinitely had really knocked her for a loop. As much as she had been wishing for it, she hadn't actually expected him to say it. Do it, maybe, but not say it. He had been staying with her cell of the Alliance since they met, albeit with one foot out of the door the whole time. Now, he was definitely staying.

She understood that for a man like him that was a huge move. It was common knowledge the smuggler had never stayed put anywhere for any real length of time. The fact that he had already spent years not only sticking around, but being a real help and a loyal friend not only to the Alliance, but also to her and Luke spoke volumes. Volumes that Leia gave him credit for in front of the Council, but rarely to him or even to herself. She trusted him without a doubt in most ways, but now maybe she was willing to add one more way.

Her plan had indeed worked. She had actually stopped thinking about him in a purely hormonal manner. Although, he was not out of her system by a long shot. While her plan erased some one-dimensional thoughts about the gorgeous scoundrel, it had highlighted her deeper emotions. It had forced her to examine her feelings for him.

He was no longer just a distraction to her work, he was a bonafide part of her heart.

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Han felt an uncontrollable smile spread across his face as he saw the Princess approach the ship with her travel bag slung over one shoulder. She was being trailed by Lieutenant Spirant whom Solo recognized from the Command Center. Typical Princess, Han thought. Giving orders right up to the last second.

Hopefully, they could concentrate on more than just the mission once they hit hyperspace. Time was running short on the bet and while he was feeling engulfed in his emotions for her, he was not as sure it was mutual. A growl from behind him caught his attention just as he saw the Lieutenant breaking free from Leia's constant stream of orders.

"Yeah, I noticed it. I'll keep an eye on it." Han never took his eyes off of the woman or her curves as she continued to walk towards him. Her eyes had found his and she was close enough for him to see a hint of a secret smile. He couldn't get over how profoundly attractive he found her. He knew he could spend the rest of his life staring straight at her and never think otherwise. Chewie made mention of his eyes being on other things besides the finicky ship malfunction. Glancing over to the Wookiee, Solo felt the need to mount a defense to the tease. "What? I'm never supposed to look?"

As soon as he turned his attention back to Leia, he saw Luke bounding over to her all smiles. He loved the guy like a brother, but Solo felt like all he did as take his eyes off Leia for a second and Luke suddenly moves in. It was a ridiculous thought and a jealous one, at that, but that didn't stop him from thinking it anyway. Weirdly, he felt like it was his own fault for breaking the spell of protection he had over her by staring at her as she made her way to the Falcon. Nonsense, but ever since he threw his fate into the same lot as the Farmboy from Tatooine and the Princess of Alderaan, a lot of things seemed to stop making sense.

For instance, why did Luke feel the need to carry her pack for her like that? Solo knew that Leia traveled light from necessity as well as not being the fussy women she might once have been in her old life. No extraneous clothes, shoes, jewelry or hair and makeup accessories for his Princess. Yes, some of the reason was that she no longer owned such things, but she had made no effort at replacing much if any of it at all.

She had been on missions since he had known her where she could have replenished not only her needs, but wants, yet she never did. Han had wondered at that over the years. At first, it seemed odd to him that a member of royalty would not be interested in that. After spending time around her, Solo realized that Leia was very practical and those things were of little to no utility to her. She had the basics she needed, but no more. She knew she might have to bug out and leave them at any time. It just didn't make sense to have much in that regard. Besides, Leia worked very hard at practicing what she preached. She wanted no special treatment. So, she lived in military uniforms just like everyone else.

One day, he was going to take her shopping and make her remember how to look the part of the beautiful femininity that she carried within her. Not that she wasn't fine just the way she was, but those military uniforms just didn't do justice to her. Who knows, maybe he would get the chance to do that on Ord Mantell.

Luke called out as they were within reaching distance. "Hey, Han! Chewie!"

"Hey, Kid. Here to kiss the Princess goodbye?" Han may have appeared to be wise-cracking, but it was still a pathetic coverup for his jealousy. These two were just too close for comfort.

He had no idea where Leia stood on the idea of a romantic relationship with Luke. It's not that she encouraged it, but it's not that she discouraged it either. It left them all in the dark, but Luke must've been picking up some sort of signals because his once clumsy and overt attempts at flirting had waned quite a bit lately. Maybe Luke had essentially bowed out, but was leaving the door open in case she gave him the signal? Solo had no idea.

Luke just laughed at Solo's jibe. "I'm here to wish you both good luck and hope you both be nice to each other since nobody will be there to referee."

Solo became animated in his mock offense, pointing his finger into Skywalker's torso and then shifting his thumb to aim at Leia. "Hey, I have no problem playing nice if her Most Royalness over here can control herself."

Leia stood with her arms crossed and snorted. "How am I supposed to control myself with him? I don't think he even knows how to be nice."

"Okay…" Luke shook his head in exasperation obvious wondering why he said anything. "Maybe not 'nice' then. Maybe just try not to kill each other?"

Chewbacca walked between Han and Leia, slapping Han on the back and making a point to hug Leia goodbye as he growled in concurrence with Luke.

"Bye, Chewie." Leia lost herself in the Wookiee's fur for a moment.

Luke then turned to Leia and hugged her. "Be safe. I'll see you on Hoth."

Leia smiled brightly at Luke again irking Solo just a little somewhere deep inside. "You, too."

She took her pack back from Luke, slung it over her shoulder and walked past Solo up the ramp. Solo watched her as he realized she hadn't even said hello to him, just complained to Luke about him. He half-waved to Luke.

Luke's demeanor changed now that Leis was no longer within earshot. "Han…"

The level of protection for each other in their very specific Death Star survivor family was understood. It needed no reminding nor renewal pledges. But every once in a while when any one of them was having a 'bad feeling,' an acknowledgment of some sort was passed between them.

Solo's face morphed into dead seriousness. "With my life."

"I know." Luke smiled. "May the Force be with you."

Han waved again to his friends before heading up the ramp. Hitting the controls for the ramp and turning to start pre-flight from the tech controller station, Solo found her standing just inside the lounge. Silently looking at him. Contemplating him. He guessed she had heard. He had been pretty quiet about it, but she seemed to have Wookie-sensitive ears at times. It's not like he ever made it a secret, so he had no idea why it was apparently affecting her this time.

"Give me that." He took the pack from her and slung it over his shoulder. He walked over to the tech station and flipped the switches in sequence for the engine warmup. Leia followed him as he then headed back towards his cabin.

"I can carry it."

"Maybe I'm tryin' to be nice, Sweetheart," Solo said without stopping.

"Since when?"

That hurt more than he would've thought. Hadn't he gone to a lot of trouble for her lately to make sure she was relaxed and happy? He thought things were good between them and that the little show out there had been more for throwing Luke and Chewie off than anything else. It drove him crazy that he never really knew where he stood with her. Whenever he thought he knew, something would happen to make the doubt clear in his mind all over again.

"Well, good to know it only counts when it's somebody besides me." He flung her pack into a cabinet on the wall and slammed it shut. "You can have the cabin to yourself for the trip."

He stalked off, leaving a speechless Princess behind. He wanted her and he would protect her with his life, but he was tired of letting her treat him like he was second rate. Tired of being the only one she treated as beneath her, not good enough for the precious Princess. Bet or not bet, he was done with this banthashit. He had told himself that before, but now that he had her without protest, he could honestly say that he didn't want her anymore if this was all there was.

He felt a strong pull on his bicep, insistent enough to make him stop in his tracks. He turned and looked at her with hurt fury in his eyes. The next thing he knew, she had shoved him with all of her might up against the curved bulkhead, knocking him off balance enough to cause his knees to bend in the process. He found himself nearly face-to-face with her.

"Kiss me."

Taken aback, he didn't register what she said. Her determined demeanor opposed the vulnerability in her eyes.

"I want you to kiss me," she half-demanded and half-pleaded again.

Solo fell deep into her large brown eyes as he searched for something elusive and intangible. Her hands pushing against his chest reminded him of how it felt to have her on top of him in bed. But this wasn't about that. She wasn't doing this as a sexual advance. That much he knew. Her eyes beckoned him in a new way and he was powerless to their pull.

Han closed his lips onto hers. Immediately, he was awash in the waves of emotions he felt coming from her. She had done this to him before. He knew it was overwhelming, but all he wanted to do was swim in deeper. He pulled her closer, crushing her to him. Keeping one hand on the back of her head so as not to lose their connection, he stood up and pushed her backward up against the opposite wall. Their kiss deepened as she held tighter to him than ever. It was as if Leia was making absolutely sure he understood what he meant to her. She wanted him. Needed him. And had no intention of letting him go. It couldn't have been clearer if she had shouted it out loud.

He soaked every bit of it in and let it wash through him, cleansing his doubts and deep fears of losing her. While he did his best to return the emotions, Solo knew this was purely about Leia expressing hers to him more than anything else. This was her way of communicating what she couldn't say with words and he couldn't be happier to accept her love in any way she was willing to show him.

What felt like seconds but were probably long minutes later, they broke their lips apart. Their mouths hovered very close while they opened their eyes to put the final punctuation on their silent conversation.

With a particular sparkle in her eyes and a smile playing around the edges of her lips, she silently seemed to say, 'Understood?'

In return, Solo opened the locks and let his deep happiness bubble up and shine through for her to see. His usual half-grin grew into a quiet full-fledged smile and answered her in kind. 'Understood.'

Han went to reunite their lips once again, but this time she pushed him back.

"Captain." Her voice was sultrier than she realized. "We're not exactly alone yet. We haven't lifted off, remember?"

"I could argue that, Princess." He straightened his stance and gave her a hand peeling herself off the wall. "But, the faster we get out of here, the better."


	17. Chapter 17: So Excited

I know I was gone for a couple of weeks. Sorry. Did you actually miss me?

May the Fourth Be With You! Always!

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Part 3: Ord Mantell Chapter 17: So Excited

Atmosphere cleared, final checks done and with one last look at the settings, the Captain of the Millennium Falcon was ready. "Prepare to engage for lightspeed."

The Princess put her hands on the levers and waited.

"Punch it!"

She pulled back as instructed and the still stars turned to streaks before their eyes.

Han sat back and contemplated the scene. "We're alone."

"Observant of you, Captain Obvious." Leia unbuckled the safety harness, her tone was more teasing than snark. All she needed to do now was flip the controls for the any alerts and alarms that would be triggered by the hyperdrive course to the blare through the ship if tripped. The toggle switch was above her head and far out of her non-Wookiee reach.

"Hey, easy, Your High and Mightiness. I was just makin' a point."

"Ok, what's your point?" Climbing out of the seat, Leia stood just behind it, then reached up and over to flip the switch. She was about to tell Solo that it felt a little sticky when she felt his arms cage around her from behind.

She should've expected it, but he surprised her with his swift advance.

He kissed her neck. A conspicuous shiver passed through her as he began to tickle her ear with his tongue and lips. Solo knew she loved it when he did that. It was surefire way of eliciting a moan, especially if he made a point to whisper into her ear as he did it.

"I'll show you," he whispered.

Not only did she moan on cue, she let herself be pulled to him. He stepped them backwards and sat her down with him in the navigator's chair behind his own pilot's seat. He pulled her closer to press against him. He stroked down the insides of her thighs and all the way back up her sides over her breasts. His excitement was already becoming obvious.

Still kissing along her neck and ear, he dropped his voice lower and made sure to exhale into her ear as he spoke, "I want you, Princess."

Leia squirmed delightfully from his breath wafting down her tingling skin, but she forced her cooler head to attempt to prevail. She took a stilling breath of her own and used up her last bit of clear-headedness. With every ounce of responsible purpose she could still access, Leia disentangled out of his arms and stood up.

"Han, we really don't have time for this right now."

He stood up as well and watched her shoulders and chest expand with her breath. He knew she was just as excited as he was. The dilated dancing of her eyes confirmed her arousal, but she was fighting it and him. Solo knew they had a few things to do before they arrived at Ord Mantell, but they had a little time - plenty if they used it wisely.

She could literally feel her arousal rise in her belly with one look at his smoldering features. He was aroused the same as her, the yearning was clear above and below.

Without another word, she broke from his eyes and took a step towards the door. _Stop running, Leia. He has._ Where that thought had emanated from, it stopped her cold in her tracks. The idea of work had suddenly fled except for the last vestige of resistance that served as her heartshield. _Let go._

She put everything she had into that kiss before liftoff. With his jealousy laid bare, she had pointedly shown him that he was her clear romantic choice. Why he thought Luke was any sort of real competition to him was beyond her. There was no competition. Period. As far as that went, she was his bet or no bet. There had been no actual words of acknowledgment, but none were needed. Now it was time to own up to that or at least take a larger step in that direction.

Not long ago, he had hinted that he would enjoy her initiating intimacy between them. The last time they had been together, she did that, but it was barely a first move. If she were going to leap, she needed to make the first, second, and maybe all of the subsequent moves. He had made her happy. He was staying. Time for a little payback. One breath. One breath and she would turn around and her life would begin to change…

 _Breathe._

She turned around and pushed him back down into the navigator's chair.

"Fine, Solo. Have it your way."

Han's eyes rounded in surprise. A pure Solo look of astonishment painted onto his face.

"Stay." Holding her hand up lest he move, she made her orders clear. "I've had enough of being distracted by you." She leaned down a bit to level her face with his. "From now on you do as I tell you."

"Okay." Han nodded, his shock melting into an interested and excited smirk.

"I wasn't asking you. This time it's an order." She smiled with her eyebrow raised, making him aware that she knew those words would evoke the first time she had said that line to him. "Take off your shirt and blaster belt."

Han quickly complied dropping them on floor.

Leia pulled off his boots and moved to stand in between his knees and Han stretched his hands up towards her.

"Stop. Hands down. No touching." She began to unfasten her shirt as she leaned down. "Mouth only, Flyboy."

"My pleasure, Princess."

" _My_ pleasure is certain." She tilted her head and considered him. " _Your_ pleasure remains to be seen."

He watched her stripping in front of him. Not only had she never done that before, it was far more seductive than he bet she knew. Then again, she was suddenly upping their game to a new level and he was putty in her hands for it.

He nodded to her inadvertent striptease. "Oh, it _is_ my pleasure. Trust me."

His comment stopped her movements and a brief flash of embarrassment swiped over her face before disappearing. Now naked, she climbed onto his lap facing him. She placed her hands on his shoulders for support and found a comfortable way to straddle him. Her wiggling around was making him incredibly hard.

"Tell me where you want to touch me," Leia ordered.

"What I really want to do is spank you," he said roguishly, gripping the armrests.

She ran a finger along his lower lip before kissing him quickly. "Why don't you use that mouth of yours for something useful to me?"

"What did you have in mind?" He asked hopefully already making plans what he was going to do to her once she had her way with him

She arched her naked body towards his face making her wish known.

Han leaned forward and let his tongue trail in between her breasts which was enough to make her eyes fall closed. "More?"

"More."

Solo moved to a breast and began working his skillful magic with his mouth.

"Han—" She moaned grinding her hips against him.

"Tell me what to do to you, Princess."

Han again complied and they both moaned as she again ground against him. Unable to restrain himself from wanting his hands on her body, he moved to touch her.

"No! No touching!" She commanded. "Or we stop."

The Princess moved off of him and opened his pants, pulling them down and off. She caressed his erection lightly and watched for his reaction. She was rewarded with a pleasured sigh.

She knelt between his legs, gave him a cloying look with her lashes low and her voice full of arousal. She had to stay in control for a while longer before she gave it back to him.

It was her turn to smile wickedly. "Beg me."

"Please."

"Captain, I know you can do better." She stroked a finger along the side of her erection and over his scrotum.

His eyes rolled and face contorted with an aching need she knew well. "Please, Leia. Please!"

She took him into her mouth, using her hands to stroke him simultaneously.

Han groaned so forcefully, he was surprised he wasn't coming. His hand gripped the armrests so tightly, he thought he was going to break something. She knew his body well, because she knew when to stop before all was lost.

She stood up again in between his legs watching him.

"You're released." She said haughtily.

Whenever she played hard to get, it just inflamed his desire. He decided long ago that she was well aware of this and enjoyed being dominated by him at times. It wasn't unheard of for a strong woman to want to let someone else take the control sexually.

"Well, you're not!" He stood up and grabbed her, pulling her down with him as he fell back into the chair. With her on his lap, he hungrily grabbed at her breasts with one hand and dipped and stroked his fingers in and out of her wetness, growling as he did it. "Did you think you were just gonna be able to walk away and leave me like that?"

She just moaned as his hands claimed her.

"Do you know what I'm going to do to you?" His body literally burned for her. He had never felt himself shake like that before.

He pushed her to stand up, then stood behind her. He pushed on her back to bend her over the middle console and then lightly spanked her a few times. Just enough to spark her.

"Ow! Han!"

"Learn to like it." He smacked her ass once more before curving his hands over it. "That's for not letting me touch you." He moved a knee in between her legs. "Spread your legs, Princess."

His pushed his erection against her as he used his hands to release her hair from its tight binding. He loved the feel of her long hair and enjoyed entwining some of it in his one hand. With the other he found and played with a taut nipple as he bent down to kiss the back of her neck. "Now it's your turn to beg me, Princess."

"Please, Han."

"You know what I want to hear."

"I want to feel you inside of me. Please?"

"You're lucky I'm a nice guy." He entered her and she cried out in pleasure.

He began to thrust, going harder and deeper each time. "You're so tight. I can't believe how hard I get for you. "

That made her cry out. He loved arousing her with words. She was always doubly responsive when he talked to her. While this was good, he did have the presence of mind to realize there would be some serious cleanup in the cockpit if they stayed here and Chewie's sensitive ability to detect scent wasn't going to work in his favor either.

He pulled out of her and spun her around. "This is fun, Princess, but I can't be thorough here." With a flex of his strong arms, he lifted her straight up and she curled her legs low around his hips. His erection was standing at more than full attention and caressing her full undercarriage as he stopped to kiss her.

With her hair streaming around her and her aroused smile playing around the edges of her lips, Han thought he had died and gone to some heaven. "You're amazing, Leia."

She looked about to say something, but instead leaned in to kiss him deeply, her arms clutching him and one hand tugging through his hair.

At this rate, they weren't going to make it to his cabin unless he got them there right now. He leaned forward to encourage her to unwrap her legs from their clench around his hips. Then he shifted her to cradle her in his arms.

"Alright, Sweetheart, let's go get comfortable."

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He dropped more than placed her onto his bunk.

He rolled his body halfway onto hers sinking into a kiss as his hand found her folds and stroked it sensually, inciting new tingles and a fresh burst of wetness.

"Who are you wet for?" he murmured against her mouth in between kisses.

"You," she answered as her body trembled beneath him. Her hands alternately roaming over him and clutching at his solid muscles as he aroused her.

"Who else?" He demanded.

"Only for you," she obeyed between tortured gasps.

He grew harder at her whispered pledge.

"When do you get wet for me, Princess?" He continued his manipulations and kissed his way down her curves for a sumptuous taste of her, lingering between her thighs and back up her stomach. "Do you think about me when you touch yourself?" His question was huskily mumbled onto her swollen nipples.

"Yes." Her answer was breathless and distinctly delayed.

Han stopped for moment looked up. Normally, the Princess was very responsive to his erotic requests. Her pause was more than because of his distracting actions. Since Leia had proven to herself a sexual being, he just assumed that she masturbated like most humans and plenty of non-humans. Perhaps he had found a new slice of shyness.

"You can tell me anything. You know that." His hand stroked her hair in reassurance and he kissed her.

"I know," she smiled. "I was just surprised."

He assessed her through lust-filled eyes, but he couldn't help that tickle at the back of his mind that maybe it hadn't been shyness, but that he wasn't the only one she thought of during her private times. Now was not the time to figure it out. He desire to be inside of her again was becoming unbearable.

He kissed her sensuously. "So tell me about it."

She ran her finger over his lips echoing the move from before. Then she found his hand and laced her fingers with his. Her voice had taken on the low register that told him she was lost in their lustful lovemaking. "I imagine it's your hands, your fingers."

He pushed his knee in between her legs and followed with the rest of his body.

"My cock?" He rubbed his erection along the outside of her folds, igniting an entirely new set of whimpers he had never heard from her before.

"Yes… Han-"

He entered her and she arched up to him immediately. He stroked into her only a few times before rolling to his back and putting her on top. "Show me how you touch yourself when you imagine it's me."

She gyrated on him and caressed her breasts, making a point to excite the tips and moaning his name with her head back and eyes closed. Then one of her hands slid down past her navel to where they were intimately joined and played with herself there. It was one of the most arousing, hedonistic moves he ever saw from her.

"That's it!" He couldn't take anymore. He had to drive into her hard and right now. He rolled her onto her back again and drove into her for all he was worth, his hands gripping her shoulders. "I swear I'm gonna fuck you so hard…" He growled at the feel of her nails digging into him as she cried out in pure ecstasy. "You'll know when it's really me..."


	18. Chapter 18:Don't Go All Mushy on Me

Somehow I'm making this chapter happen today. It has been a real struggle this week. Everybody happy?

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Chapter 18: Don't Go All Mushy On Me

Finally alone and on the way to Ord Mantell had instigated a round of intimacy that had started in the Falcon's cockpit and ended up in Han's bunk. Lying next to him in his bunk, knowing there was no real rush since Chewie wouldn't be around and she was not due in the Command Center, she took a few minutes to enjoy the full relaxation. She heard Han snoring next to her.

It was something she found a bit amusing. For her, sex was energizing in many ways as well as relaxing. It gave her a verve, a rejuvenating awakeness within her peacefulness that was like no other boost. Han was much more literal about it. His orgasmic highs were powerfully exhausting and he tended toward a short snooze during intermission unless something redirected his attention.

Leia moved off the bunk to head to Falcon's head to get clean. This last round of sweating had been fun, but she was ready for some freshening up.

What was happening to her? Leia was a jumble of emotions. It had been a less than a month into their bet and she was already lost. The mere idea of Han sent shivers down her spine. She could feel her face, no, her entire being light up whenever he came into the room. Her concentration had dwindled and she would 'steal' seconds away from important business just to think of him.

If she had a few minutes or decided she needed a few minutes, she would seek him out. If she found him anywhere near the Falcon, she would come up with some lame public excuse why she needed to speak with him in private. In actuality, she was hoping he would take the opportunity to smother her other with sensual kisses and promises of intimacy at the first opportunity.

Before, where she had done her best not to think of him or only think of him sexually, she now dreamed of his sweet kiss or his murmured pledge of finding her beautiful while entangled in his arms before they slept.

She turned on the Falcon's controls for the water shower and let the soothing stream wet down her hair. He never admitted it, but she suspected Han installed the system partly for her. She had mentioned during the establishment of the new base on Recron Sola how she enjoyed being able to take a water shower before the medal ceremony on Yavin. Within the next year, Han had installed a water shower on the Falcon, but said nothing until Leia had occasion to use it on the next mission. Even then he played it off as something he had been meaning to do and finally got around to doing it. No big deal.

Since Leia had no idea what to do or say about it, she had said nothing other than it was one thing the flying piece of junk that she hoped would continue to work. _At least it has_ , she thought happily as she washed the soapy bubbles down her body. It was so much more satisfying that sonics, especially since she and Han had occasion to use it together.

She was in trouble and she knew it. This had never been the plan. It couldn't be the plan. At the moment, she didn't care. All she cared about was the next time those hazel eyes of hers would make her melt as he stared into her eyes.

Leia had learned to trust her intuition over the years and her intuition had been telling her she and they were on the right track. She didn't know how it was possible in all honesty. He certainly wasn't the kind of man on that she had ever envisioned herself with long term. He was not the type of man she was bred to consider as a mate and she knew that was precisely why she was initially attracted to him in the first place. He lived on the edges and was smart and skilled enough to do it well. His astonishingly good looks only added to that.

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She waited for him. Knew he would be there. He never missed their one of their pre-planned rendezvous before and she knew he wouldn't miss this one either.

Leia had been against splitting up during this part of the mission, but with Chewie not here, there was no other way. Her role complete, she decided to make their arranged meet up at the Falcon a special one. One she hoped neither of them would ever forget.

She checked around her. Cargo Bay #3 wasn't exactly the place she had imagined doing this, but she hadn't imagined any of this to begin with. It would do. It's not as if it would matter to him.

She didn't own any seductive underwear, and other then the standard rebel issue, there was no other choice. Although it was supposed to be intended for both genders use, it was decidedly more male-oriented out of necessity. Thinking that was not the impression she was looking to make, she had ditched it altogether and substituted one of Han's favorite light long sleeve shirts. She couldn't be absolutely sure, but the particular one she had chosen may have been the one he was wearing underneath the Stormtrooper armor when they met. It was a sight she would never forget.

She had pretended to re-pin her hair as she watched the handsome and already aggravating Imperial imposter extricate himself from the Stormtrooper armor. His shirt being pulled nearly off on the process was a site to see. His body had been hard to miss and she had a difficult time not staring. Even in her distressed state of mind after her interment in her cell and Alderaan, the flash of his skin after they had survived a close call with death was rejuvenation of her life force. A clear reminder that after every horrible thing that had just happened, she was still very much alive and capable of feeling.

She had been numb moments after Alderaan's destruction. As the numbness wore down, she had felt dead inside. It had not mattered because she knew she would be actually dead soon enough. Luke bursting into her cell had given her back that glimmer of hope to fight on. Meanwhile, Han had given her back that glimmer to actually feel something somehow.

She chucked at herself at these deep discernments, _Oh, you have it bad, don't you?_

The shirt had no traces of the trash compactor's smell and her memory of what he was wearing that day had become hazy as opposed to her memory of seeing his naked torso. Other memories of him, both large and small, from that day had done the opposite. They had become seared into brain and perhaps parts of her soul. It was those things that she had been fighting to control, to squash, erase anything so that she didn't have to face them for what they were.

Try as she might in every which way she could think to do, she could not eradicate her feelings for Han Solo. He wasn't just a generator of distracting hormonal urges as she had so desperately tried to believe for so long. He was the intangible part of her that could never be quashed by anyone or anything. Her connection to him, so deep and powerful, that it frightened her. Her need to have him near was crushing at times.

 _That_ had been the truth to her lie of his distraction.

Now having given free rein to her carnal desires and seeing them for minor part of the much larger whole of love, she was ready to surrender to it. Ready to fully surrender to the tantalizing glory of loving and expectedly being loved in return.

Leia arranged the pillows surrounding her once again. She looked around the area where they had stolen away to hide from Chewie in order for her to satisfy her end of the bet and his promise of complete discretion. Shaking her head with a ironic smile, she thought about how brilliant she swore she was in her plan, letting him think he had won, when is all reality, she had truly won without every understanding the actual prize at the time.

Han had known. Not that he had ever really said it, but he had to know. There was something just as deep there for him as it was for her. Something like this could never be one-sided. He had chased her as well. The whole time he had been pushing her for more and she had repeatedly refused to even entertain the idea in hopes of it all just blowing away with the wind.

"Well, Solo, you finally win," she said out loud with a wry lilt. He had decided to stay with the Rebellion and that was the final signal she had needed from him to believe in her heart that he wanted to be with her and shared her deep beliefs and goals. It wasn't a full commitment from him, but it was enough. Plenty fair until she gave him a real reason to hope for their future as a true couple. As soon as he walked into the door, she would sit him down, kiss him gently, and confess her love and need to be with him.

Now it was a mere matter of minutes before both of their lives indelibly changed.

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	19. Chapter 19:This Was Not the Plan

First, thank you to all the Guests that have been reviewing! I can't thank you personally since you are not signed in, but I appreciate everything you are all saying nonetheless and I hope it continues. :D Of course, thank you to those members that are reviewing as well. Everyone ready? Maybe cover one eye or something...aw, it's not going to be _that_ scary... yet. ;)

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Chapter 19: This Was Not the Plan

Han sunk to his knees, hands behind his head as ordered. _Dammit to all hells!_ This guy should've never been able to get the drop on him. He's smarter than that, but he had been distracted thinking about Leia waiting for him in the Falcon.

Today was the last day of their bet and he was hoping she would be open to continuing to grow their relationship at this point. He had really believed she was coming around to the idea of having a real romance with him, not just a sexual relationship. Now he had to figure a way out of this and keep Leia safe from it at the same time. _Great. Just great._

"Where's you hairy co-pilot, Solo?"

"Not here." Han answered sarcastically knowing it would earn him punishment from the bounty hunter and not caring.

The metal-knuckled glove back-handed across Solo's cheek, succeeding in drawing a bloody gash over it. "Next time it won't be the back of my hand. Answer me!"

"I told you. I'm alone." Han snarled, hoping against hope the hunter would believe him somehow. Unlikely, but he had to try. With Leia waiting for him in the ship, she was a sitting target and the only reason he was being this cooperative in the first place. He had to try to draw Fett off somehow, but Fett wasn't as stupid as most bounty hunters.

Solo's answer drew the butt of the hunter's rifle to his other cheek, knocking him clean to the ground and then the business end of that blaster doing its best to embed itself into the back of his head. "You know me, Solo. You know I don't play games."

"Go ahead and kill me then. It's not gonna make Chewie suddenly appear on planet and you lose out on your big payday." Han swore he heard a slight digitized chuckle emanate from under Fett's helmet.

"I could take the dead bounty on you and the live one on the Wookiee and come out even, maybe even a little ahead. You see any reason I shouldn't do that?"

"You're too greedy for that, Fett."

"Or I'm too smart. I know you don't go anywhere alone these days, Solo. So you're gonna get up nice and slow and we're gonna walk towards the ship. We're going inside and if by some miracle, you're telling me the truth. Then, I'll use your ship to go find the Wookiee. If not, then I'm going to kill whoever I find in there including you."

"You think you're gonna get me, Chewie, and my ship?" Solo was incredulous. His tone turned ominous, "Over my dead body."

"Right on every count. Now move!"

Fett kicked Han in the kidneys to get him moving. Normally, Han would've made a grab for Fett's foot and tried to pull him down into a fistfight, but Fett on the lookout for that maneuver and Solo knew it.

Sticking relatively close as they walked, Fett was obviously aware that the ship's sensors would recognize its captain and anyone standing close enough to Han. That way, there was no risk of setting off the approach sensors inside the ship. Every good spacer had that same setup. However, Han had specially modified it so a small click and twist of a knob on his belt would allow the sensor to go off even it was him approaching. Leia would hear the alarm and at least have a fighting chance. If he could only reach the knob without Fett deciding to shoot him….

His thoughts raced as they came close enough to the Falcon to lower the ramp. Han knew a few tricks, but Fett was right about one thing. The bounty hunter was smart. He doubted there was anything he could try that Fett didn't already expect. Perhaps the only thing Fett didn't expect was Solo's desperation level to warn Leia.

Pretending, or almost pretending, to drag his feet as they walked through the docking bay might have been his only edge. They were less than ten steps away from the hull. His clumsy beat-up walk gave him a perfect excuse to fall…

Sidestepping Han's purposely crumpled form, Fett immediately kicked him in the back again causing Han's torso to open into an arch. "Get your hands out in front of you and get up. NOW!"

Solo complied, but had just enough time to hide the movement of his hand near his belt. _Hope you're hearing that, Sweetheart._

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Leia's ears instantly picked up the sensor's warning clinging through the ship. A few second later she heard the ramp being lowered. Who else could've just started to approach and disengaged the locked ramp so quickly unless it was Han? After all, wasn't he supposed to be coming back right about now, not to mention being the whole reason she was lounging about naked except for his shirt in Cargo Bay #3?

 _Move now, questions later_ , she ordered herself.


	20. Chapter 20: Blasters Ready?

Ahem, so summer happened. I know I haven't responded to you individually for the last chapter and I do apologize and I sincerely thank you for taking the time to do that. I hope you will this time as well. We have at least one more chapter after this - maybe more, but let's just get back to where I left off, cool?

Chapter 20: Blasters Ready?

It was a nightmare to end all nightmares.

Correction: _another_ nightmare to end all nightmares. She had watched as Han clung to life by only a thread and his sheer will. It was her fault. He went to Ord Mantell because of her and now he was barely breathing because of it.

Her heart was breaking. She vowed she would be done with it once and for all this time. They had been having too much romantic fun while on Ord Mantell and it had made them sloppy in their security. At least in her security, but it was all that bounty hunter needed to get the jump on them.

It had started out as a wonderful day that turned into a wonderful dinner. It had been about to be a most wonderful evening.

She had almost confessed her love for him.

It was sheer luck the hunter hadn't counted on Leia having any weapons training. He must've taken her for one of Solo's portside conquests. Luckily, she had been able to turn off the ringing from the approach sensor going off before the bounty hunter had heard it. With no time left for anything else, she had grabbed one of the blasters that Han kept stashed around the ship in various hiding spots for emergencies. As soon as she saw Han shoved so hard into the Falcon's main hatch that he slammed against the bulkhead and slid down seemingly unconscious, she jumped out of her hiding spot next to the acceleration couch in the hold and trained the blaster directly on the hunter.

Before she could blink, the Fett swung his arm up and shot at her with what should've been a kill shot to her chest. With lightning reflexes, Leia dodged right and the shot only grazed her shoulder. It was a deep graze, but not substantial enough to deter her from simultaneously squeezing off her own deadly aimed blast at Fett.

Unfortunately, her need to dodge had caused her shot to go off target and find Fett's leg instead of his unprotected neck.

Recovered from the jarring shove, Han attempted to build on Fett's injury and launched himself onto the bounty hunter.

Leia stood a couple of meters away with her blaster trained on both of them as the knot of the two men struggling in front of her moved clumsily around the main hatch area. She couldn't get a clean shot and didn't want to miss and hit Solo.

Suddenly, she heard Fett's blaster and its results of dropping Han to the ground. The hole in his thigh completely disabled him with a howl into a heap on the deck plates. Instantly, Fett found his footing and shot Han again at close range who slumped motionless to the floor.

Leia, thinking Han was dead, had fired again and again in a blinding haze and no longer caring what happened to her. Fett dodged and sought cover near Han's body as he yelled something about holding her fire or he would kill Solo, but she heard nothing at the time and only recollected it during her debriefing.

She saw Fett's blaster aim down again and another shot hit Han simultaneously as a couple of her shots found a vulnerable spots in the Fett's green armor.

Due to Fett's body armor, none of the shots Leia landed were kill shots, but the steady intensity of the shots raining down on him at an ever closer range were changing the odds. It must've have forced him to understand the odds of him getting out of there while dragging Solo's inert body without killing her first were slim to zero. Considering the barrage of fire, the odds of killing her at this point were also slim to zero. Meanwhile, the odds of Leia killing Fett were increasing exponentially by the second.

It had been enough to make the hunter decide to he was at a clear disadvantage from that point on. Fett took off hobbling out of the open hatch and down the ramp.

Leia had begun to run after him, but her now broken catatonic state gave her the presence of mind to instead shut the main hatch, close up the ramp and lock it in one fluid movement as she turned toward Han.

Kneeling down to Han she found him alive and breathing – barely. Fett had initially been looking to keep Solo alive and must've only stunned Han with the second shot, but the last shot left a gaping wound on his left side while his right hamstring was a mangled mess from the initial shot.

While her own left shoulder was painfully blackened in sympathy, her heart had leapt that he was alive and she had kissed his non-responsive lips quickly in jubilant relief. His dead-like response was enough to snap her into action to keep him alive until she could get help.

She had no memory of how she was able to drag him to the medical bunk. Nor did she remember flying the Falcon completely on her own back to the new Rebel base on Hoth. She was glad for those times when Han had left her to handle things herself in the cockpit over the last few years. Leia had never flown the Falcon from liftoff to landing by herself before, at least not on a longer trip that included going through hyperspace, and she felt like she still had not. Still it must have happened.

Leia did remember touching down and opening the ramp for the medical crew to rush aboard and that was simply because the cold of Hoth felt like it literally sliced through her. Luke and Chewie had rushed in just after the medical crew. She remembered Chewie's mournful wail upon seeing Han's state. It cut her much deeper than the frigid air.

She had stood off to the side as the emergency team strapped Han onto the repulsor sled to move him to the med bay. Again, she felt numb inside and out. Unbelieving what had just happened and not wanting to acknowledge why.

Luke had found her standing there leaning on the corner of the acceleration couch.

"Leia, you're wounded, too!" Luke leaned down to inspect her shoulder and saw that while she was most likely in no immediate danger, she needed medical attention. "Medic! Over here, the Princess is wounded."

She waved away the medic that broke from the pack working on Han. "No. I'll manage. Attend to Captain Solo." The medic flicked a glance at her shoulder and hesitated, but Leia put a quick end to it. "That's an order!"

Luke picked up his comlink and called for another personnel tram shuttle to come to the Falcon.

"I'm fine, Luke. I'll get it looked at once we get to the med bay with Han."

"Leia, it's a big hanger and the med bay isn't that close. I don't think you should be walking too far with that shoulder." Once her saw her frustration beginning to mount and he realized she had not taken her eyes off of Han, he knew he had to try a different tack. Similar to the one he had used on Han recently when Leia had been hurt. "We need to follow the medics and Han, anyway. This will be faster and we can keep up with them."

As the medics now hovered Han's lifeless looking body past her and Luke and down the ramp, it was plain on her face that she was only holding herself together by sheer will. Chewie followed growling very quietly and steadily which Luke took to be some sort of Wookie prayer. Luke gently ushered Leia out and made sure the main hatch was locked tight. Even on base, security was important and they would never hear the end of it from Solo once he recovered if they had left his baby vulnerable.

Luke had a good feeling that Han would indeed recover. At least, he didn't have a bad feeling about it and that had to count for something. At least he hoped Solo would recover. Yes, for Chewie's sake and for all their sakes, but more for Leia's sake than anyone else.

She did her best to hide it from the galaxy, but Luke had a way of reading her quite well these days. However, one didn't need to a Jedi to see there was an extraordinary chemistry between Han and Leia, just being sentient would be more than enough. At times, it was explosive. At other times, it was entertaining. Many times it was both, yet their consistent denial was the kicker to it all.

Not long ago during their last time they had all played sabacc, Luke had thought the spark ignited more blatantly than ever before, but it was difficult to tell with these two. What he did know was their care and concern for each other knew no bounds.

He could easily see how Leia was grief-stricken and probably blaming herself somehow. No doubt, Han would react the same way if the situation was reversed.

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Chewbacca, Luke and the Princess waited anxiously as 21-B and FX-7 worked on Solo. They waited while the wounds were sealed and new blood was pumped back into his body. Then, they watched as he was dipped into the recently acquired bacta tank. He floated unconscious for only a short time before he was pulled out and the medical droids began the regeneration process for the large wound in Han's side. Even with all of that, Two-Onebee had informed the trio that Solo's grip on life was tenuous at best and the prognosis was bleak at the moment.

No words were spoken until Threepio and Artoo arrived. Upon registering Solo's prone body lying motionless on the bed and quickly analyzing the conglomeration of the various apparati hooked up to the Captain, R2 beeped a soft enquiry Luke's way.

"It's not looking the best right now, R2," Luke answered quietly. Seeing Leia's face fall for a moment at his announcement before she covered up her emotions with her 'official concerned' mask, he felt the need to add, "Don't count him out, yet. He's not the kind of guy that gives up easily."

As Chewie seconded that emotion with a resolute growl. And Luke thought he caught a flicker of something wash over Leia. He thought he maybe even saw it in her eyes for a moment before it disappeared. _C'mon, Han, Ol' Buddy! Don't make a liar out of me,_ he thought.

Threepio felt the protocol need to add his sympathies. "I do hope he recovers, Master Luke. I'm sure he was beginning to like me."

That brought a hint of a smile to everyone's face.

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Leia had watched the medical droids every step while fighting her deep fear for Han and her need to shout at the droids to keep moving with urgency. He was dying. She could sense it. And, she couldn't take it.

Now that medically what could be done was done and there was nothing to do except wait, it was just as excruciating. She was afraid to face Chewie. It was her fault Han was in this situation, yet any apology would be not only inadequate but she would have to explain why it happened. Regardless of Han's medical status, she wasn't prepared to do that.

When Luke had told R2's of Han's fight to cling to life, it had nearly broken her inside. She had started this whole venture to get him out of her head and out of desires. It had been a bet. A stupid bet that she let turn into something that it never should have and now the consequences might be death for Solo. She loved him. If she lost him now… She hadn't felt like this since Alderaan.

Even if he lived, she would have to cut him out of her heart.

Why was always so complicated between them?


	21. Chapter 21:The End of the Beginning

This chapter is dedicated to MrsScruffyLookingNerfherder! She has been a loyal reader, but more than that, she made me aware of her true gratitude and enjoyment of this story. That alone has inspired me to finish writing this fic. The next few chapters are dedicated to all of you readers who have done the same and even to my few guest readers - you also make it worthwhile. There have been many times when I have had to catch hell from people because they thought it was too far on the 'rated M' scale for them (of course, now that everybody is doing it, it somehow makes it okay?) So, to all of you who have stayed, read, and let me know you are there and enjoying... I present Chapter 21 and in the next week or so, 3-4 more to finish before year end. Cool?

Chapter 21: The End of the Beginning

Video from the Falcon's external security cameras later showed Fett surprising Solo as he entered the docking bay. Leia knew Han was too smart and cautious as a general rule for him to let someone get the jump on him so close to the Falcon. If it had been anywhere outside of the spaceport's docking bay, she seriously doubted he would've led anyone back to her and his ship even at blasterpoint. He must've been distracted and she knew exactly what that distraction probably was. It had plagued her own self for enough years for her not to recognize the same thing in Han. He had their romantic connection on his mind. He was thinking about her.

The footage just cinched the idea that Leia had to undo what had been done between them. She was not going to put Han in jeopardy because of being romantically linked to her ever again. It had been the Captain's Corellian Luck that had kept him alive to this point. Luck and his innate stubbornness.

After a day, the monitors had shown a slight improvement. After another day, there was enough improvement to declare Solo out of the woods and on his way to recovery. Meanwhile, the Hoth base was busy setting itself up. The Command Center and the Med Center had been first on the list. Leave it to Solo to make the first use of Med Center. Thankfully, Colonel Rieekan was handling the day-to-day operations while Leia directed the overall operations and strategy. She and Rieekan made a good team, but as a member of the High Council, she had the final say. Despite her never ending long hours of work, she had been spending what time she could next to Han's bedside.

She tried to time it for when Chewie and Luke weren't there, lest they get the wrong idea. Leia would sneak in late at night or the off hours when Chewie would leave to grab something to eat or nap. Admittedly, it was difficult finding a time when the Wookiee _wasn't_ there or Luke or even the droids, for that matter. Say what you will, but their tight knit little group watched out for one another. Even so, she didn't want to raise any suspicions.

So there she sat, sick at heart and grief-stricken anguished to her core watching him lie there. All she could do was stare and hold his hand. And pray. Yes, she had been known to do that on occasion. The Princess was not of a particular religious ilk and had no idea if they had any power whatsoever, but it was something she could contribute other than stare in concern and worry. Occasions just like these when nobody was around to hear, she would speak just above the quiet in Alderaanian. It was the only time she ever used the language anymore. Alderaanian prayers remembered from and erstwhile childhood and it only seemed fitting she whisper them softly that way.

This time, at the end of the prayer, she raised his hand and kissed it. It was meant as a farewell. Not to his life, but to him and to their relationship.

She could see no other way. She was out of hope for them. She had become a more dangerous distraction to him than he was to her.

Of course, it was the very moment Han opened his eyes.

"Han?"

He tried to talk, but there was a tube preventing that.

"Don't try to talk yet." She turned and called out in what seemed an inordinately loud voice for the late quietness of the Med Center, "Two-Onebee! Come quickly! He's awake!"

The droid came immediately and began disengaging Han's tubes from his mouth. "Captain Solo. Hold still. I need to remove your breathing apparatus. Do not attempt to talk."

Even in his weakened state, Han was able to roll his eyes at the obvious and his displeasure with having to allow the medical droid to work on him.

"Be patient, Han. Two-Onebee is trying to help you."

Solo flicked his gaze down and then up to her eyes. Leia hadn't realized until that moment how hard she was clutching his hand in hers. She loosened her hold intending to let go entirely, but Solo squeezed with a weakened grip and held onto her.

Leia left her hand in his for the time being. He was clearly in distress, after all, and it was easily seen as a friendly gesture in this situation. Nonetheless, he was not the only one in distress. With no plan of how to interact with him now that she had essentially dismissed their relationship, the Princess was in a panic.

The breathing apparatus was removed and Han roughly swallowed the lubricating liquid that would ease his vocal chords. Two-Onebee made his final assessments. "Captain Solo, you are recovering from serious blaster injuries to your flank and thigh. Your condition is currently stable. You're prognosis is guarded. Please do not overexert yourself and continue to rest as quietly as possible."

The droid rolled away leaving Han and Leia in privacy once again.

"Hiya, Princess," Han croaked tentatively trying out his voice.

"It's good to see you awake." She smiled. She wanted to stroke her hand through his hair, but she didn't dare. As it was, her mind raced for a graceful way to be released from his hand.

"Did you get hurt?"

True to form, his first concern was always with her safety. She really didn't feel like getting into the particulars of how she had catatonically beared down on what she guessed was a bounty hunter in a repeated rapport of laser blasts while she thought Han was dead. "No. I was able to chase him off after he shot you."

"Chase him off?" His expression was incredulous and he choked a little as he chuckled.

"Yes. Why? Who was that?"

"His name's Boba Fett. He's considered one of the galaxy's best bounty hunters."

Leia thought about that for a second and was glad she wasn't aware of Fett's reputation at the time. All she truly remembered about it was that she was reacting to the situation more than anything else.

Han turned quiet. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. It was sheer luck he didn't kill you."

Leia's eyes turned very serious and she made no effort to mask her feelings for a few moments because they were simply too overwhelming. Later she would control them, but seeing Han alive and talking about what happened brought a tidal wave of her former emotions washing over her.

"I thought he did kill you," she whispered.

"I'm guessin' he would have if it weren't for you." He squeezed her hand.

Leia dipped her head away from his eyes and fought for control. This needed to stop. She was slipping into deep caring and loving mode. Briefly, thoughts of where this started drifted through her mind.

"I should call Chewie and Luke."

"They can wait a minute. I want to spend some time with you." He tugged on her hand in encouragement for her to lean in for a kiss.

No matter how good that sounded, she would not be deterred. As far as she was concerned, it was a bet and now it's over. She would convince her heart and desires later. She had played with fire in hopes of controlling the outcome and lost.

Instead of leaning in, she pulled her hand away from his. "They would want to know right away."

"What's going on?" Han looked taken aback by her obvious intent to brush him off.

"Nothing is going on."

"Then why are you pulling away?" His voice was warily accusatory as if he knew what she was getting at, but didn't want to hear it – again.

"You're obviously misreading an act of friendship."

"Friendship? _Friendship?_ After everything that's happened?"

"It was a bet and now it's over." Her mask of bravado was firmly in place and there it would decidedly stay.

"I don't buy that for a second, Sweetheart."

"Believe whatever delusion you want, Solo. It's not going to change anything."

Han went from incredulity to a frown. "Leia…" He saw her resolve and knew it too well to think she would give in – at least for now.

"I'll go call Chewie and Luke."

He nodded sullenly. Leia's heart broke a little more, but it had to be done. She wasn't going to be the reason Han Solo lost his focus and maybe his life. Besides, the Rebellion needed all of her as well. It needed everyone it could get and it couldn't afford to have a leader that was busy swooning instead of strategy planning. She just had to maintain her control of her emotions and the situation. She knew Han wouldn't and she secretly loved him for that, but it still had to be done.

She walked towards the door and stopped. She took one last look at the incredibly handsome smuggler that would have her heart until the end of her days. "You should get some rest. I'm sure they'll be here in a few minutes."

He had watched her every move, but made no effort to answer her.

"We were all very worried about you." With one last look into his eyes, she turned and left.

 _How did it come to this?_


	22. Chapter 22:Second Verse,Same asthe First

A few things... One, correction, her name is MrsScruffyNerfherder and I want to get it right. Two, there are 2 more chapters after this one. This one is a bit short, but then again, aren't we mostly a bit short on time right now? So, short is good. I'm telling myself that and sticking to it. Three (as in a few) I again say thank you with copious amounts of gratitude to those readers who regularly tell me they are here with me and to those coming out of their nooks and crannies or just as guests. I promise you, these chapters and any upcoming fics - yes, Lils, it's on the way - would not be here without you - yes, all of you. I can't stress that enough. :D

May the Force Be With You!

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 22: Second Verse, Same as the First

Han watched the door slide shut on Leia and apparently their relationship. He felt caught between wanting to vomit, hit something and curse his head off. What the hell had just happened?

The last thing he knew was that he had jumped on Fett to distract him from shooting at Leia. Then the next thing knew he was here and, poof, what they had is over? His stomach wrenched again.

It was supposed to have been a romantic night. A celebration of the end of the bet and the more official beginning of them as a couple. The last part had been his hope, but he would've bet every credit he had ever had in his entire life that she was all in on it. Leia was a woman in love and it was obvious even to a guy like him.

He had woken up in the Med Center on Hoth to find her standing worriedly over him - he checked the nearest chrono - in the _middle of the night_ just to act as if nothing meant anything to her? That just didn't add up. He knew he wasn't exaggerating his perceived level of Leia's emotional attachment to him all this time. He had enough sexual encounters and shallow involvements to know when there was nothing there. There was definitely something there with Leia. A deep something. An undeniable something. A love that he didn't want to lose and knew she felt the same. There was no way he was misreading it. Deep in his gut, he knew she loved him.

 _Dammit!_

He just didn't have the strength to get up and chase her right now. Obviously, something big was bothering her. Hopefully, he would be able to ditch out of the Med Center by tomorrow. He had to get to the bottom of it and fast before she shut down on him completely. He knew all about her ability to lock down her emotions. After Alderaan, everyone around her knew her capability in that. If they weren't sure about it before Alderaan, they became very clear the moment they had landed on Yavin IV and she started barking orders about planning for the attack on the Death Star.

Chewie came bursting in the door followed closely by Skywalker. The Wookiee came over to hug him alternating being happy he was alive and irritated that he scared them all like that.

"Easy, Furball. I'm supposed to resting."

"Welcome back, Han! How are you?"

"Gettin' better by the minute, Kid." Chewie remarked that Han did look much better than before. "Yeah, I guess I was a bit banged up on arrival."

"Good thing Leia was able to get you here so fast." Luke became more subdued. "She saved your life."

"No doubt. You two gonna fill me in? I was kinda out of it at the time."

"She didn't tell you?" Whenever he was surprised, Luke still had a way of channeling a bit of the young Tattooine farmboy wonder into his tone.

"No. She didn't stay long."

Chewie growled quizzically as well.

"Hold on, she never told either one of you?"

Luke shook her head. "I know she had a debriefing with Rieekan." Luke could see Han trying to puzzle out why she would be so tight-lipped. "Han, she was dazed when she landed. She had been shot in the shoulder."

"What?!" The monitors next to the bed began to reach alarm status.

Both Chewie and Luke admonished Han to calm down. Han stayed angry for a moment more and Chewie reminded him the droid would come in to inspect the problem if he continued. He took a few breaths and the alarms shut themselves off.

"Dammit. She told me she was wasn't hurt."

"There's more."

Han steeled himself. "Tell me."

"I think she blames herself for what happened."

Solo closed his eyes against that bit of news. _Oh, Sweetheart. No._ "Why?"

"I don't know. It was just a feeling I had." Luke shrugged and spoke quietly. "I've never seen her look so shaken up. While the medics were preparing to move you to the Med Center, she wouldn't take her eyes off of you. When one of them tried to look at her shoulder, she ordered him back to you."

Chewie interjected to agree that the Princess kept all of her focus on Han until he was out of surgery and the bacta.

"I went in the tank? I must've been worse off than I thought."

The room went quiet.

"Alright, it's late. You two go back to sleep."

"I'm glad to see you're on the mend."

"Thanks, Kid. And if you see the Princess tomorrow…"

"Right. But take it easy on her?"

"Sure, Kid." Chewie ushered Luke out the rest of the way. "Night, Chewie."

Han spent the next few sleepless hours anguished over what Leia must've gone through and berating himself for letting it happen. Obviously, it was much worse than she had let on. Not only that, but what if Luke was right and Leia blamed herself? He had to get to the bottom of this and salvage what he could as soon as possible. He couldn't let her go.

 _Why does it always have to be this complicated?_


	23. Chapter 23:Full Frontal Offensive

I know this was supposed to be finished before the 2017 rolled in. However, since we lost Carrie and Debbie last week, I _personally_ felt that a few days of mourning were in order out of respect for both people I deeply admired and loved as if they were family. I know that not everyone felt this way and that's not for me to judge so I am not, promise. But _this_ fic is my call. Some are handling her death better than others - I'm still working on it. To me, there was one great thing that came from TFA - Carrie was more available to us than ever and not just as Leia, but as Carrie the entire person, just Carrie. Sadly, she drowned in the moonlight by her own bra. May the Force Be with You, Princess.

Okay, I owe a bunch of people a thank you for the last chapter and I'm getting to work on it right now. In the meantime...

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Chapter 23: Full Frontal Offensive

Solo waited all day and into the evening for Leia to show back up in the Med Center, but she never came. He didn't exactly expect her to show up, but he was disappointed all the same. Both Chewie and Luke had dropped in again, but only for short time since they were involved in the setup operations for the base. The realities of the extreme cold was making it more difficult than anyone had anticipated in the pre-encampment logistic studies.

At least TwoOneBee had released him in time for a late dinner. In typical form, Han recovered rapidly once he woke up. It was said that Corellians had a gene that let them recover from injury quicker than the average human, but it had never been proven. More likely, it was a universal Corellian habit of intensely disliking being seen as physically weakened in any way. Either way, Solo was released and making his way to the mess hall to meet Chewie and grab something to eat.

The day spent mostly alone had afforded him time to think. He worked on an approach to the Princess to break down her walls and in a permanent way this time. As per his usual modus operandi, nothing came of all that thinking. In the end, he decided to do what he did best in these situations: wait for inspiration strike.

Han figured that maybe Luke was correct and she was feeling responsible for what happened. It wasn't all that difficult to believe since she excelled at taking on the responsibilities of a galaxy with relative ease. Yet, this was not an all-galaxy encompassing problem. This was directly related to him and his past among other things. Still, there was a chance she thought that she was somehow at fault.

Maybe.

The problem with that was Luke didn't know the half of it. He had no idea what had been going on in private between Leia and himself and how that was just as likely why she was a concerned wreck. Considering how Solo had nearly exploded hearing she had been hurt, he could only imagine what Leia must've gone through watching him be injured enough to need emergency surgery and the bacta tank. The first thing he did in the morning was make 2-1-B give him the full rundown of his time in the Med Center from arrival to present.

Normally, he wasn't all that interested in how he was injured specifically, only how long it would be before he was up to normal speed again. But since Leia hadn't told anyone specifically what happened, he was going to have to get his information in other ways. If she wasn't telling Luke, she probably wasn't going to tell him either.

From 2-1-B's rundown, it sounded as if Leia had every right to be so incredibly worried. His prognosis had been bleak up until the minute he woke up to see Leia there watching him. Whatever happened after Fett had almost blinked him out of existence had to have been pretty rough.

Solo had never felt more like a lowlife. Here a beautiful, brilliant, amazing woman, _the_ Princess of Alderaan no less, gives herself to him in every way and he brings a fucking notorious bounty hunter straight to her. The complete opposite of what she deserves. What if Fett had somehow found out who she was or where the new rebel base was? He wasn't above selling that kind of information. Solo directed his welling anger inward. It's not like it was the first time they had run into bounty hunters, but the former smuggler intended this to certainly be the last.

He had put off facing Jabba long enough! He was putting Leia in danger and everyone else on base as well. It was one thing when he was playing the odds for himself and Chewie, but there was no way he was willing to gamble with anyone else's lives any longer, especially Leia's.

The one thing he wanted to know before he left though was if there was something to come back to or more specifically, _someone._ He wasn't sure he would live through Jabba and whatever deal he had to strike with the Hutt to be square, but it would make a difference in how he approached settling the debt.

He knew one thing that would be different. He was going on full press with her. He wasn't going to let her sink back into herself and continue this circular pattern. He would figure out what the biggest obstacle was holding her back and he would do whatever it took to overcome it. If that wasn't enough, then that was it. He would have to find a way to walk away.

Walking into the mess hall, he easily picked out the mass of hulking fur waiting for him at a table. Chewie was already eating which was no surprise. A being that big in stature and muscle required a lot of intake just to maintain general health. At least, Chewbacca was a generous heart as well, lending his time and strength to the Rebels in exchange for the food they were happy to provide. It was more than that for Chewie, though. Given his druthers, Chewie was as loyal to the cause as Leia and with good reason.

Han grabbed a tray and loaded his normal amount of food. On his way to the table he had a second thought that it might be more than his system could handle right now, but Chewie wouldn't let it go to waste. After trading greetings with a few people along the way, Solo finally sat down across from his copilot.

"Hey, partner."

Chewie growled a greeting and a question around a mouthful of food.

"I'm fine." Han dug into to his dinner. "You know, I was thinking…."

Teasing Solo good-naturedly, Chewie congratulated him on that.

"Funny, really funny. Listen, I think it's time we go settle things with Jabba."

Chewie asked if Fett got to him.

"He could've killed the Princess. And what if we make a mistake and lead one of them back here somehow? Or we're on some mission together and she ends up handed over to Vader?" His voice started to rise in volume just thinking about it before Chewie hushed him down. Han lowered his voice. "It was too close this time."

Solo's copilot agreed they had to do something soon.

"How's the Falcon?"

A somewhat mournful growl came first before a list of issues. It turned out that the Falcon had not behaved as well as hoped while Leia was forced to pilot it alone through several quick jumps to get to Hoth. Not knowing all the minor idiosyncrasies and how to deal with them as they came up had taken a toll on the ship.

"It's a good thing the Princess at least knew the Falcon's main modifications or it could've been a lot worse. I should've been making sure she was doing more of the piloting over the years."

Again, the Wookiee chided Solo for always trying to show off in front of her with his flying skills.

"Hey, I wasn't about to hide my talents."

Chewie's next comment about the Captain not hiding his sexual prowess around the Princess told Han that he knew there was probably something going on between them.

"Ahh." Han waved him off to see what information he could pull out without confirming anything himself. "You think you know so much."

A string of growls and punctuation barks later, Solo understood that all Chewie knew was that Solo had serious attraction to Leia and vice versa, but he thought they were too busy wasting energy fighting all the time to do anything about it. _Whew!_

"I'll admit, she's something special, Chewie. But what could a guy like me offer a Princess, huh?" Solo was still smarting from the idea that he let his past catch up with his present and almost kill the women he loves.

Now trotting out the sage old Wookiee wisdom, Chewie gave Han his best pep talk. Among the older and not so easily translated adages, there were the usual tidbits when it came to the Princess, as well. 'Love doesn't know status.' And, 'There's nothing wrong with you, but you have to try harder with her.'

Solo didn't mind hearing it. If anything, he secretly needed the boost in confidence after what happened. Chewie may relentlessly tease him about it, but he was his friend and wanted the best for him and for the Princess.

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Han decided to go talk to Colonel Rieekan before approaching Leia. Maybe Rieekan would be willing to share some details of the briefing report. He had done it in the past at his discretion. It seemed only logical since Han was the only other person on the mission that he would be privy to some of it.

It would mean going to the Command Center. Leia would probably be there. Again, hoping inspiration would strike, Solo's luck favored him. He spied C3PO and R2D2 coming his way down the hallway.

"Captain Solo! It's so good to see you functioning normally again." R2 beeped. "R2 is happy to see your return to health as well."

"Thanks." Han tried to keep in mind that the droids had been useful to his little schemes with Leia in the past and that as droids went, at least R2 was tolerable.

"Please excuse our absence from visiting you in the Medical Center. Princess Leia instructed us to leave you alone to recuperate as rest according to 2-1-B's orders."

 _Thanks, Sweetheart_ , Han thought. She definitely didn't hate him if she chased 3PO away for him.

"I'm looking for Colonel Rieekan. He in the Command Center?"

"Oh yes, Captain Solo. Colonel Rieekan has barely left the Command Center since he first arrived. There's been some difficulties establishing the base."

Threepio always was a gossip and Han had always taken advantage of it.

"Oh yeah? Like what sort of difficulties?"

"I believe there is some sort of trouble with many of the engines not adapting well. I know even I had to take special care with my own servos and joints to keep them from freezing up-"

"What about the Princess? Have you seen her?"

"Why, yes, of course. We were just coming from her quarters."

"Is that where she is right now?"

"I'm not sure where she is at the current moment, Captain Solo."

"Did she tell you to tell me that?" Solo leaned close in to 3PO. He doubted the implied intimidation would work with the very literal droid, but it couldn't hurt either.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Is that so?" Han leaned back and reconsidered his options. "I'll tell her you said that when I find her."

 _You can hide from me that easily, Princess._


	24. Chapter 24:Gotcha!

Hey! What a great day to end a fic, wouldn't you say? Thank you for sticking around and your patience during my grief of Carrie. In honor of our Princess and her gang in the GFFA, I say to you: May the Fourth Be With You!

xxxmtfbwyxxxx

Chapter 24: Gotcha!

Artoo began beeping and his dome spun back and forth.

Han looked at them both with a frown and took off down the hallway. He would find her himself then he would go find Rieekan. He turned another corner and caught sight of a short fast moving human with thick dark braids walking down the crossing hallway. _Gotcha now, Sweetheart._

He thought about calling out to her, but since he didn't have any idea what he could say when he caught up to her, he decided to follow her and hoped something would come to him or an opportunity would present itself. Oddly enough, instead of heading to the Command Center, she looped around to the massive hangar carved out of snow. Once inside the cavern, she headed directly for the set of snowspeeders tucked along the one side.

Han watched as head mechanic briefed her, pointing to various areas of the closest speeder as he waved his other hand in frustration. Leia nodded spoke quietly. The mechanic gave her a grim smile and a quick salute before heading off.

As Leia climbed up the closest speeder, resting her forearm on her bent knee, she stared down at it in consternation. Solo decided to make his move. He sauntered over to her as casually as possible.

"I heard about the problems with the speeders. Sounds like you could use my expert advice."

Leia froze for only a fraction of a second. She had felt him following her since before she entered the hangar. She was hoping he would've left her alone at that point, but no such luck. Relief had washed through her that he was already out of the Med Center, but at the same time it presented the problem of holding him at arm's length in every way. Her internal war with her emotions was raging as much as any harsh battle the Rebellion had faced against Imperial troops. She braced her gut. It had to be like this.

"Oh?" She turned slowly to face him. "And what qualifies you as an expert on snowspeeders?"

"It's a ship with an engine, isn't it? I'm an expert ship engine mechanic."

Was he really leaving her an opening that wide and easy to insult him? He must really want her talking to him if that's the case. After the way she left things with him in the Med Center, it shouldn't have come as a surprise he was willing to not let go of their relationship so easily. Truly, she loved him all the more for it. Still, the greater good for his sake and for the Rebellion's sake had to be held above all.

She shook her head and afforded him a sardonic tone, "With a ship that breaks down as much as yours, I don't think that qualifies you as an expert."

"The fact that she needs special know how to keep her running above specs that _makes_ me the expert, Sweetheart." He engaged his best flirtatious confident smile. "Admit it, you could use that right about now."

Instantly, it occurred to Leia that he could apply the same concept when it came to her personally. She wondered if Solo had any of that idea behind his argument. Considering his ever-present arrogant bravado, she was sure he would take credit, but wondered if he knew how much it was true. At any rate, he was certainly pouring on his persuasive charm or what he thought was currently passing for it anyhow. It wasn't going to work.

"I'm sure the speeder mechanics will get them ready just fine."

Han made a show of counting off the reasons on his fingers. "If that was the case, then one, they would already have them up and running. And two, you wouldn't be here glaring at the engine like you can make it work on your command. I'll admit, you're a pretty decent mechanic, Sweetheart, but that it isn't going to make it come to life."

It was only to be met with a caustic look, "Okay, Hotshot, then what's your 'expert' advice?"

Han leaned over to get a better look at the engine and maybe to take advantage of the necessary proximity to the Princess that it entailed. He clucked his tongue at this and that, grimacing as he prodded his fingers here and there over the innards of the engine. "My first guess is that the coolant ratio is off. These are meant to hug the terrain, not for the deep cold of space or, in this case, Hoth."

"They already allowed for that with weak results." She sighed outwardly in exasperation, but couldn't help flashing back to his very personal inspections of her. Just watching his fingers dance around the engine was making her a weak in the knees and a few other unmentionable areas. She fought that down like the determined woman she had known herself to be before she knew him. "Any other expert ideas?"

"You didn't let me finish, Sweetheart." Han smiled knowingly. "Once you tweak the coolant ratio, the air intake has to be adjusted to be warmed as it comes into the engine compartment or the whole thing will just overheat on the inside and freeze on the outside causing a complete shutdown in mid-air. It'll take some trial and error, but it should work."

Without taking her eyes off of Solo, Leia nodded to a Rebel now standing just behind Solo. "Lieutenant, did you get all of that?"

"Yes, Princess."

"Has that been accounted for before now?" Leia was taking a small delight in watching Han's smug smile drop just for a moment at the realization that they had a nearby audience the whole time.

The Lieutenant looked a bit sheepish. "No, but I agree with Captain Solo. It should work once we find the correct balance."

"Then get to work on it immediately. We wouldn't want to need to deploy them and be caught with them still grounded."

"Yes, Princess. Thank you, Captain Solo. I should've thought of that."

Han shrugged off the compliment. "No sweat. It's not something you run into that often on a speeder. Let me know if there's any troubleshooting you want to bounce off of me."

The Lieutenant walked off to enlist his mechanics and give them new instructions leaving Han and Leia staring at each other. Now they were indeed alone as they could be in a huge base hangar. All Leia could focus on was how many times Han had 'saved the day' in a clutch time. He deserved acknowledgement for his latest rescue.

Without a hint of sarcasm, she spoke with quiet sincerity, "Thank you, Han. We are indebted to you once again."

"I missed seeing you in the Med Center."

Leia shook her head and waved her hands to indicate the base as she kicked into military leader mode rather than face what he was truly implying. Han had always been braver than her when it came to facing emotions, but after her personal imprisonment of her feelings, she was not giving them air of any kind.

"There's a lot to do around here just to get things set up. Even working on locking down our security is slow going. We're still largely vulnerable if the Empire finds out we're here."

"What needs to be done?"

Han seemed to have switched into his problem-solving mode or maybe he was still trying to appeal to her on a more personal level, but the base couldn't afford for her to worry about her personal issues when it came to fighting the Imperials. Everyone contributing as much as they could was important to the Rebel Cause right now.

"Well, we have the ion cannon operational, but the shield itself won't be operational until we set up the perimeter markers."

Han smirked in that way she adored. "Can't get anybody willing to ride out in the freezing cold on those smelly Tauntauns, huh?"

He may have meant it as a simple joke, but she was already on edge and that pushed her over it. How could he even suggest people were shirking work around here because of that?

"All the ground troops are outside already cutting in trenches and checkpoints, administrational staff is trying to set up a fully functional Command Center. We were just lucky the Med Center was-" Leia cut herself off. She didn't want to bring up that right now. She took a deep breath, reminding herself once again not to let him get to her in any way, shape, or form.

As she was looking down at the snow between their two sets of boots, she heard him or perhaps it was more felt him drop his shoulders in a small sigh of compassion as he felt her stress.

"Easy, Sweetheart," he soothed with a gentleness in his voice. "I get it. Everybody is busy. How about I see if I can round up a couple of people and get those perimeter markers set?"

Suddenly very quiet, Leia was slow to answer him.

"Are you sure you're up to going out there so soon after…" _Hold it together, Organa!_

"Listen, I'm fine, Princess. You don't have to worry about me. Besides, I'm damn near indestructible."

She didn't like it. Not one bit, as a matter of fact. Leia knew that wouldn't stop him though.

"That would help. Thank you."

"No problem."

"I suppose you could borrow of a couple of pilots from Rogue Squadron… but only a couple," she warned with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't worry. It shouldn't take long."

Leia walked away with her stomach in a knot. She didn't like the idea of him going outside right now. She hated that she was standing so close to him and had no hope of ever being with him or even just kissing him again. Looking into his eyes was a self-inflicted torture even when they were sparring. It was obvious that Han still wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him, but it was not to be, could not be. She felt the snow crunch under her boots as she walked away feeling more chilled to the bone than any other time she could remember in her life.

 _How did it come to this?_

The End…. Now go watch The Empire Strikes Back and May the Force Be With You!

xxxmtfbwyxxx

Love to my Star Wars peeps! You always have a way of Jedi Mind Tricking me into posting. Did I do okay?

I hear all of you clamoring for Long, Long Way to Go. It's in rewrites, but it's coming this summer. Also, another one in the chute taking place a few years after ROTJ - non-TFA related because I wrote it before TFA and I'm not into writing TFA-related fic.


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